Friday Flash Fics — “All Aboard”
Today’s prompt for Friday Flash Fics made me think once again of my superheroes (and super-villains) from the short story “Lesser Evil,” which I’ve revisited a couple of times before. After the events of “Lesser Evil” (which you can find in The Lavender Menace), I checked in on Psilence (the telepath) and Aleph (master of all forms of energy) a while later with “Terrible Waste.” Later, after political events in the US had left me frustrated yet again, I wrote “Ready,” where we got to spend some time with Cinder (the Canadian superhero with fire and flame powers) and Quantum (his time-traveling/quantum-reality slipstreaming boyfriend). This picks up the thread from those two pieces, and lets me introduce the Czech Republic born teleporter, Railroad.
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All Aboard
Jakub Láska felt something behind him.
He shivered in spite of his jacket, and considered his options. The sensation was far enough away that he had some time to think, or at least he hoped that was true. He paused long enough to pull out his phone, as though he’d just gotten a text or something. Then he opened the app for maps and waited for it to load. It zoomed across the world—he hadn’t opened the app in a while, he guessed—and then centered on where he was standing.
There was a subway station near enough. That would do. There’d be enough corners. He could find a spot. Worst case scenario, he’d hit a bathroom.
He started walking again. Having a destination made him feel better, as always, and he tried to feel behind him, reaching out with his mind in a way he didn’t always understand to see if he could find that same feeling of whatever-it-was…
There. A bit closer than before, too. It felt… slippery. Half-there, half-not. He had no idea what that meant, but it wasn’t something he wanted to find out for himself, either.
Certainly not while he was in the United States. That was the last place he needed to get caught these days. They’d all but gutted NAMDA, opened their own organization—The Metahuman Patriots, which wasn’t at all a disturbing name, fuck no—and there’d been enough rumors that Jakub had decided to check things out for himself.
The rumors hadn’t been the half of it. And he’d been within a stone’s throw of making it better, and then…
He realized he was clenching his fists, and slid his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Ahead of him, the subway entrance appeared, and he let out a small sigh of relief. The feeling behind him was catching up. Whoever it was, they were moving quicker now.
Getting out of the wind was nice, and though it was cold and dim down in the subway, Jakub didn’t mind. He eyed the various signs, looked at the entrances and machines, and grimaced. The bathrooms were on the other side of the gates. He needed to turn cash into a ticket. Did he have time?
It didn’t matter, he had to try. He didn’t want to do something in plain view—especially since all he had to work with for his own anonymity was his wool hat—but he’d likely have already been on camera as it was. At this point, anything other than a private stall was likely to get noticed, and so he’d gamble on it until he had no other choice.
The machines had a handy chart telling him how much he’d need to spend to get to various places, so he fed American currency into to slot. He had no idea where Lafayette was, but he didn’t care. Once he had enough, the machine printed the card, and he grabbed it and headed for the turnstile gates.
The sensation entered the room.
He didn’t want to look, but it was like the feeling had its own gravity. He couldn’t help himself. He managed to wait until he’d used the card to get to the other side of the turnstile, but then he turned.
There were two men. A redhead with a short beard, and a broader man, dark haired and brown skinned who was looking right at him. The dark-haired man was definitely the one sending off the strange feeling, and when their eyes met, the man nodded at him, and smiled.
Jakub paused, unsure. It didn’t seem like a hostile move, but then again, these days, who knew? The guy could be one of the Patriots. This could be a trap.
The dark-haired man said something quietly to his companion, and now the redhead was looking at Jakub too.
He looked familiar. Jakub frowned, about to go, but the redhead held up one finger, and his expression softened.
The message was clear enough. Please wait for us.
Jakub swallowed, but after a moment, he nodded.
The two men went to the same machine he’d gone to when they approached the gate with tickets in hand, Jakub took a couple of steps back, getting closer to the wall and—if need be—enough space to get out of there. But both of the men just used their tickets to get through the turnstiles, and then they approached him slowly. Both were smiling.
“Hi,” the redhead said, taking the lead.
Jakub nodded, but he didn’t relax. “Do I know you?”
“Not exactly. But I think I might know you. Or at least, I’ve read about you, I think.”
Jakub frowned. “You look familiar.”
The other man with the redhead grinned. “I told you the beard wouldn’t cut it, Jeff.”
“He wanted me to dye my hair,” the redhead—Jeff—said.
It finally clicked. Jakub blinked a few times, then looked at the two men again. “You’re not supposed to be here,” he said, not sure what else to say. The dissolution of NAMDA had been pretty clear about who was—and wasn’t—allowed in the US. Unless he was completely mistaken, the two men in front of him were both Canadian metahumans.
“That makes three of us.”
“How did you find me?” Jakub said. He couldn’t help asking.
“That was me,” the other man said. “I can feel certain… things.”
Jakub took a breath. “I can feel you, too. It’s like you’re there, but also not there?”
“That about sums it up.”
“Maybe we should go somewhere to talk?” Jeff said. “Somewhere a bit more private?”
Jakub nodded. “Follow me.”
He led the two men to the bathrooms. There was a man just washing his hands, so they waited for him to finish up. As soon as he was gone, Jakub held out one hand and flexed his mind.
The portal opened just beyond his fingertips. It grew from almost nothing to a circle the radius of a full-grown man in seconds. Beyond it, it looked like there was a small cabin.
“You have to go first,” Jakub said. “It will close behind me.”
Jeff and the other man exchanged glances, but they stepped through. Jakub followed. The portal snapped shut.
It was cold in the cabin. There was snow outside, whipping against the windows.
Jakub blushed. “I haven’t been here in a little while. Let me just…” He went to the fireplace.
“I got it,” Jeff said.
Jakub stepped back, waiting.
The redhead crouched by the logs in the fireplace and held out his left hand. His palm lit with flames, crackling for a moment before leaping from his hands onto the wood. In seconds, the fire was lit and burning. He rose, and closed his eyes for a moment. Pulses of heat washed out from him into the room.
In no time at all, the cabin was positively cozy.
“You are Cinder,” Jakub said. He was grinning.
“And I’m Quantum.” The dark-haired man offered a hand. “Or Colin, if you’d like.”
“Jakub.” Jakub shook. “Quantum. You were fairly new, I think? Before they changed NAMDA. You’re the one who can phase?”
“Among other things,” Colin smiled. “Hey, can I ask…did you pick the name Railroad, or did the media do that for you?”
“The papers,” Jakub admitted. “After I got those people out of Russia.”
“Told you,” Jeff said. “Pay up.”
Jakub watched, amused, as Colin dug out some brightly colored Canadian money and handed it to Jeff.
“Why were you looking for me?” Jakub asked.
They exchanged glances. Finally, Jeff spoke. “You tried to get those kids out of the Patriot Detention Facility last week.”
Jakub blinked. “I did, but I didn’t even have time to… How..?” Then he eyed Colin again. “Ah. You felt me.”
Colin nodded.
“I didn’t blow up the building,” Jakub said. “I would never do that. I don’t even know if the young metahumans made it out alive.” He swallowed, something between anger and sorrow threatening to choke his voice. “I’d intended to portal in, and portal out. But then everything started exploding…”
“That was thanks to someone we call Aleph. He’s… not a good guy,” Jeff said. “He and his partner have been trying to send a message to the Patriots.”
“And the prisoners?” Jakub said.
“We don’t know,” Colin said. “Psilence and Aleph might have gotten them out beforehand, but…” He shrugged. “We don’t know.”
“Psilence.” Jakub frowned. “He killed that politician? Or, he made that other man shoot him with the bow and arrow?”
Jeff clenched his jaw. “That’s right.”
Jakub eyed the two men for a long moment. “What is it you want from me?”
Jeff looked at Colin, but Colin didn’t seem to want to be the one to speak. Jakub wondered if that was out of deference to the redhead’s former role as the team leader or not. Either way, it was Cinder, the Canadian metahuman with mastery over heat and flame, who turned to Jakub Láska and said, “There are other Patriot detention centers. We’re hoping you could give us a hand with those.”
Jakub felt a swell of pride in his chest. Two superheroes—two actual superheroes—were asking him to help. He couldn’t help it. He grinned.
“All aboard,” he said.
