“Any luck?” Nova asked.
Justin pressed several buttons on his communicator. “UK base, do you copy? I repeat, do you copy?”
A strange fuzz came through, and then a few whistles.
Justin set it down. “No, sir. I’ve tried every method of contacting them.”
Nova picked up an old style handset in the helicopter and put in a code. After a few moments he said, “yes, this is Director Nova with BADGE. We have lost contact with the UK base. I need assistance.” He waited a moment as the person on the other end spoke. Then he continued, “understood. Nova out.” he hung up.
Justin asked, “what did they say?”
“An hour ago there was an explosion near our UK base and the area is completely without power. They are sending in local law enforcement to check it out. MI6 is on alert.”
“I didn’t know we had a connection with MI6?”
Nova laughed, “there isn’t a national security agency we don’t have connection to.”
Justin was about to ask a question when he looked out the window. “Oh, no. Look at our base!”
Nova leaned forward to see that the unassuming location where the UK BADGE base was located had a large black hole in the side of it with smoke pouring out.
“Get us as close to that destruction as you can, pilot.” Nova commanded.
Justin asked, “do you think those avatars had anything to do with this?”
“I doubt it. They didn’t ask for our help just to attack our UK base.”
The helicopter landed in a field near the base and no sooner had the landing skids hit the ground was Nova out, running for the base.
A team of BADGE agents approached, with a woman at the lead. “Director, it’s good to see you again.”
“Commander Troy, what happened here?”
Troy said, “I can’t say. We had a proximity alert and before I could send a message to the Space Station, the power was knocked out. In fact, there isn’t an ounce of power in a forty square mile radius.”
Nova shook his head, “sounds like an EM pulse of some nature.”
Troy said, “I sent out as many agents and heroes as we could find to help mitigate the damage. Two medical facilities in the area were completely wiped out, we’re transporting patients to the nearest powered medical facility.”
“Good work. What about the attack? Who was it?”
Commander Troy opened her mouth to answer, but merely gasped as the Master of Supernatural flew down and landed beside Nova. Then the ground rumbled and a stone figure rose, the Master of Elemental. Mental and Tech were next. The last to arrive was the Master of Strength, who had his sword out and appeared ready to fight. The agents with Troy readied themselves for combat.
“Stand down.” Nova ordered.
Troy said, “what are they doing here?”
Nova answered, “don’t worry about them. I want to know who attacked this place?”
Troy spent a moment looking at the gathered avatars. “Uh... oh, right. The attack happened in a flash. We heard the explosion, and some people reported the sound of helicopters or jets. Then it was all over.”
Nova let out a hard sigh, “the same as the attack on Osteen’s prison.”
“Do you think the same organization that released Dr. Osteen conducted this?”
“I don’t know. But it seems too similar. An attack that is well executed to leave no witnesses on a location that seems impregnable.”
Troy said, “they killed several of my agents who could have seen them, but they failed to remove all witnesses.”
“You have someone who was present?”
“Yes.” She gestured to one man with her. “This is agent Chan. He was outside the compound, having tea in the grass.”
“Tea in the grass?” Nova frowned.
Chan smiled, “I enjoy my afternoon tea while I watch the ducks.”
Nova said, “you remind me of one of my agents. Well, what did you see?”
Chan said, “I saw two large black helicopters. A team of men dressed in solid black gear fired a missile at the side of our compound and went in. By the time I had gotten to the compound, they were gone and three of our agents were dead. I’m sorry for not being faster.”
Nova said, “It’s alright. If you had been any faster, they probably would have killed you as well. What did they take?”
Troy said, “that’s the strange part. They only took one thing.”
“Merlin’s Tome,” Nova said.
Troy nodded, “why, yes. How did you know?”
Supernatural said. “That’s why we’re here.”
Troy asked, “what would they want with that ancient book?”
Mental projected with her mind, “to learn secrets they do not deserve to know. The information they seek could prove disastrous for this world.”
“Who said that?” Troy looked around.
Nova said, “don’t worry. Chan, do you have any idea which way they went?”
“They went south from here.” Chan pointed east.
“Calm down.” Supernatural stated.
“CALM! WE NEED RAGE NOW!” Strength lifted his sword.
Troy said, “There may be one redeeming possibility. The book is locked.”
Nova nodded, “yes, I know. The lock was crafted by Santa years ago when I first obtained the book. But, if they found the book, the key…”
“Is no longer sealed here.” Troy stated.
“What?”
Troy smiled, “you didn’t expect us to keep both the book and key together. Even though they were separately sealed in vaults on opposite ends of this compound, I felt the risk was too great.”
Nova asked, “how did you know the book was a danger at all. I don’t even know what is in it.”
“I didn’t need to know. That the book was locked with a magical seal crafted by a legendary figure was enough for me to be concerned. I had the key moved to our vaults on the Isle.”
Nova said, “then we must assume that is where they’re going.”
“How can they possibly know about the isle?” Troy asked.
Nova said, “these people have been ahead of us at every step. They shouldn’t even have known about this location, or that the tome was here, and yet they did.”
Supernatural asked, “where is this Isle? We will go immediately.”
Troy said, “we can’t divulge that information to just…”
“The Isle is on the international date line, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Head back to the Helicopter with Agent Justin and he’ll give you the exact coordinates.”
Justin led them away while Nova stayed behind.
Troy said, “I’m sorry, sir, but I thought that place was the most top secret location BADGE owns. Not even MI6 knows of it.”
“I trust these people. They are single-minded, and their desire is for our protection. I know they aren’t a security risk. Besides, they’ll get there far faster than anyone else. You stay here and get this place back in operations. I’m going to get to the Isle and make sure they succeed.”
“Understood, sir.” Troy saluted and waited while Nova left her.
0 Comments