csyphrett Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Re: In the Company of Strangers (story) In the end, Chad Reilly used his connections to clean up the mess. He supposed it could have been handled better by seasoned pros, but the ad hoc conglomeration had come through for Marlowe. The Question Man had called them together. Someone named Keys had moved them around where possible. Reilly, Thia, and Tim Bucket had acted as distractions. The coach worked hard to hide his amazement when he saw Tim and Herb after the monster had been put to sleep. Alice and Squirrel, Super Squirrel, had shown up on their own to help out with what they had. Oz Mike had acted as the stop guard at the lake. The ex-agent had recognized him from surfing competitions broadcast on ESPN. Odd had provided transportation and the solution to the problem with his hat. Reilly thought it was some kind of magician's trick at first. Nothing up my sleeve, now watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat. That didn't explain the casual way he had dipped in to pull out a casing, and then a stoppered bottle of stuff to pour into the hollow shell. The Enforcer didn't understand the explanation about how space/time folded across numerous dimensions so that when the hat was in one place, the owner could pull out what he was looking for because he was actually reaching into some other reality. He could see he wasn't the only one that didn't quite get it. That didn't matter. The only thing that did was that Keys had been able to get Alice and Thia to a bungalow near the lake and the owl woman had been able to carry the other girl on her wings so they could reach Mike and put the monster down. Aylwin joined Reilly where he stood watching agents from the Project wrestle with the shrunken, bound, but still dangerous critter as they tried to secure it on a transport truck with a portable tank back to where they kept their captured monsters. "Excellent job, Coach." Her could be anyone features were a little sharper behind the sunglasses that seemed to come with the black suit she wore. "Had some help." Reilly smiled under his mask. "Matter of fact, I hardly did anything at all. The Question Man's team did it all on their own." "The Question Man's team?" Aylwin smiled, brushing a strand of her short hair back from face. "They're still trying to decide if they want to stay together as a superhero group." Reilly shrugged. "Trebuchet's Titans has been voted down the last I heard." "A lab team has checked the lake water." Aylwin pointed to a black van further along the shore out of the way of the struggle with the much smaller creature. "It's contaminated. They think it's the same chemical dumping Leaguer linked to Alchemo back east. Tests will prove it conclusively one way, or the other." "So a team of freelancers might be approved by the Project?" Reilly had read about the dumping in the ocean and the arrest of the head of the chemical company by Leaguer. "It's not up to me, but I wouldn't be surprised if a control agent was based here for a while to keep an eye on things." Aylwin looked in the distance. "A grant might be approved for action. An operating team in America really hasn't been done since the Project first started in the 50's." "I remember." Reilly walked over to where the nine foot long Zornwill was trying to grab one of the agents in a limb taking grip of its jaws. He summoned some of that old energy back and dumped it in the tank after the other men released in concert. A metal lid went in place to hold it in until it reached its new home. "Be careful getting him out, guys." Reilly stood back as the transport buttoned up and headed for parts unknown. "I'll talk to the others." Reilly shrugged. "Maybe they will go for it, maybe not. Their powers seemed limited from what I saw, but they should be able to help in emergencies with no problem." "Are you sure you're not trying to get back in the game?" Aylwin knew that some of the first models as the Project volunteers had been called hated the loss of their powers even though they still had an extended lifespan. She routinely checked on them as part of her duties. "I can coach them for a while, but field duty is for emergencies only." The Enforcer couldn't keep the regret out of his voice. "I nearly got swallowed last night because I couldn't fly fast enough. That's embarrassing." "I'll call when I get official word." Aylwin waved, heading for her issued car. "I have to help clean up the lake, and get drinkable and usable water for the town while reconstruction is going on." "I'll talk to the others." Reilly waved back. "They might not want to be moving targets." The Enforcer took to the air in a slow, graceful glide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Re: In the Company of Strangers (story) I'd like to thank the members of the board that I named my characters after for their forbearance and patience. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzMike Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Re: In the Company of Strangers (story) Yay Thanks for writing again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted April 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Re: In the Company of Strangers (story) Yay Thanks for writing again You're welcome. If I get some more ideas, I will post them here. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.