Chase, shocked by the idea that they could restore Arx and Adrianne from this icy prison, said, “Why didn’t you say something before now?”
EB grinned, “I wanted it to be a surprise and then when I was ready to tell, you squished me up against your chest.... can you do it again?”
Chase materialized her throwing star and pointed it right at EB’s nose. “What about Arx and Adrianne?”
EB gulped and said, “I’ll get to the point... hehe.” He bounced up and stood on the bench next to Nova. “Okay, so I was looking all over for an answer. You tasked me with seeing if there was a magical cure and so I looked and looked and looked. I talked to Santa and even tried finding the avatar of magic morphons, who was nowhere to be found. That book is elusive. They all are. Except the Oracle of Tech, now that he has bonded with that professor. It’s really cool, but weird. I wonder how he goes to the bathroom-“
“EB!” Both bellowed.
“Sorry, right. Anyway. I looked at all the data Doc Henderson has from her scans of this icy couple and discovered something. The morphons permeating them are almost all supernatural type. The resonance is a high type 7 with a frequency that matches supernatural vibration of morphon at a 92.6 percent range.”
Both Chase and Nova were stunned.
“Hey, I’m not a dumb bunny, I’m well over seven centuries old. I got smarts. Anyway. I searched for other people studying supernatural morphons and found a lab in Ireland. I talked to the head of the lab and sent her our data, and she thinks there is a way to reverse this.” He stopped and grinned.
Nova asked, “Does she have a plan on revitalizing them?”
“No.”
“Have you seen any of her data yet about this?”
“No.”
“Is there a method she has developed that will lead to a cure?”
“No.”
Chase piped in, “So, you just think there might be a chance.”
EB folded his arms, “Look, I have worked reeealy hard to find some hope on this project and this is as good as it gets. She thinks there’s a chance. After seven centuries and all that I’ve survived, I learned to lean on hope more than worry. So, I’m going to hope this works.”
Nova said, “I applaud your attitude. Being positive is a good way to seek answers. But don’t spread this around. I don’t want too many people getting their hopes up and have this not work out.”
“Good idea. The media have been all over this. His return to grace was all set; the media was liking him again, and then he sacrificed himself to save Africa and the world. They are lapping it all up. If they thought he was going to be revived, it would be a media circus,” EB said. “You know, I should sponsor that. Think of the publicity.”
“Focus,” Nova said. “What do you need to do next?”
“I’m going to visit Ireland, and I need your official approval to be there as the BADGE representative. This lab is high-tech and top secret they won’t just let me in without Director Nova’s seal of approval.”
Nova asked, “What lab is this?”
EB answered, “This is a Section 9 Lab.”
Nova said, “Okay, then you have my approval.”
Chase asked, “What’s Section 9?”
Nova answered, “Section 9 is a special department of BADGE that isn’t directly related to our work. We monitor them and they are staffed by morphonic people who didn’t want to become heroes. Everything they do is to help humankind. However, there are things they study that villains and evil governments would love to get their hands on, so we keep the labs highly protected and secret.”
“Sounds interesting.” Chase said, “However, I have several league launches to set up.”
Nova stood up and looked at his comm unit. “I have a meeting with someone in an hour. Don’t need me until I contact you.”
“Where are you going?” EB asked.
Nova said, “Don’t worry about it. EB, head to Ireland; your clearance will be ready when you get there. And, remember, keep this as quiet as you can.”
EB gave a quick, comical salute. “Will do, sir.”
Nova said, “And thank you. I want this to be the answer as much as anyone. Arx deserves to enjoy his second chance, and Adrianne deserves to live a happy life.”
“I’ll not stop trying.” EB said and then zipped away.
Chase said, “This isn’t just about Arx and Adrianne, is it?”
Nova looked up at the frozen heroes as he said, “We’ve lost a lot of friends in the past few years. I can’t bring most of them back; they are gone forever. These two... they can be saved. I have to believe in that. I have to hold on to hope.”
“EB is right, hope is better than worry or sorrow.”
“We have a job to do.” This was Nova’s authoritative way of closing the conversation and not showing the tear in his eye as his mind lingered on the faces who would never walk these halls again.
A misty morning met the faces of two brothers who dressed in warm clothes, thick coats, and heavy camouflage. They walked through the trees of a forest in Georgia, USA. The light crunch of their feet on dead leaves startled their prey. A deer in the distance looked around in shock, but it failed to see them because their camouflage concealed them well.
“She almost bolted.” One whispered to the other.
“I got her.” The other leveled his rifle and with a quick shot, the deer went down.
“Nice work!” A hearty slap on the back from his brother.
They walked without care, crunching every leaf and twig as they approached the fallen doe.
“Jed said that he was gonna tattle to the game people about our hunting. Seasons over.”
The other brother answered, “Oh, that mama’s boy aint got the balls to tattle. He’s just jealous that we keep bagging bigger deer than him. You see that scrawny buck he was so darned proud of. I seen bigger weeny dogs.”
Both laughed at that as they knelt beside their fallen quarry.
“Looking forward to making deer jerky. I got Papaw’s spice recipe finally. Real good stuff... what is that?”
They looked up to see antlers in the mist walking in their direction. The pace of the creature was steady and straightforward. An abnormal mist had gathered and was blocking most of the view.
“A buck? Why ain’t he running like hell?” The younger brother pulled up his rifle.
The other brother said, “Don’t shoot em! We can’t bring two home; we could get in trouble. Just shoot in the sky, scare em off.”
The brother wasn’t pleased, but he followed along and pointed straight up and fired. The creature
continued walking toward them.
“What sorta buck not scared of that kinda noise.” The older brother stood and clapped his gloved hands. “Get out... go on! Shoo!”
A glowing green light became visible, and the height of the being was abnormal. Soon, the antlered creature’s form was visible in the mist, and it was like that of a human.
“What in God’s name is that?”
The mists parted to reveal a man-like creature with a glowing green light in its chest, wooden clothing wrapping around parts of its body, a face of darkness with speckled green dots floating in empty space, and wooden antlers on its head. The hands were five fingers of wood with sharp points.
“Sweet Jesus! It’s a demon or something.” The younger brother fired his rifle at it, but he missed out of fear.
The creature turned its head down as though it were looking at the doe, and then it looked at them. It launched itself at the older brother, swiping with its sharp wooden claws.
