I immediately became wide awake, all signs of drowsiness gone.
Among the various applications and programs on my phone was a feature known as Anonymous Caller Rejection. In essence, if someone attempts to phone me while blocking their own number, their call won’t go through. That said, there was one person who seemingly had the ability to circumvent the anonymous caller feature, phoning me at will while keeping their own caller info private.
I debated for a moment on whether to answer as the phone continued ringing. The person calling wasn’t a friend – far from it. And it was a sure bet that he wasn’t calling with good news. More than likely, he wanted something. However, in the past, taking a similar call had ultimately worked to my advantage. In short, if I was careful, there was a possibility that I could derive a benefit from speaking with my caller.
Mind made up, I answered, uttering in an uninterested monotone, “Gray.”
“You know,” replied my caller, “I’m not so young that I would be offended if you chose to use an honorific when addressing me. Something like ‘Mister’ or ‘Monsieur’ or–”
“What do you want, Gray?” I demanded, cutting him off.
“Straight to the point, as usual,” he said, sounding a little disheartened. “Fine. I’m actually calling to see if I can assist with this situation you’ve gotten yourself into.”
Situation? I thought, frowning. Was he talking about Myshtal? It was pretty much a given that my caller, Gray, knew about her. Although he had no super powers to speak of, Gray had been granted nigh-limitless, global authority – ostensibly to maintain peace and order (among other things) – and it made him one of the most powerful men on the planet, as well as one of the most dangerous. More importantly, it was within his mandate to eradicate anything he determined to be a threat. It was a label that had seemingly been applied to me in the past, but Gray’s statement made me wonder if the definition might now include Myshtal, since his jurisdiction also extended to extraterrestrials.
“Are you talking about the princess?” I asked, deciding to address the matter head-on.
“What?” Gray replied, momentarily confused. “Heavens, no. That’s a mess of your own making. You’ll have to clean that one up yourself.”
Tension I wasn’t aware of suddenly left my body, and I let out a deep breath. It was one thing to personally be the target of Gray’s machinations. It would have been something else entirely if Myshtal had somehow been central to one of his schemes. Knowing that wasn’t the case came as a great relief.
“Okay, so we’re back to my original question,” I said. “What do you want?”
“The same as I said in my original answer: to help you with this issue that’s come up.”
“What issue? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He seemed to contemplate that for a second. “I suppose it really hasn’t popped up on your radar yet, which is why it would be best if we deal with it now.”
“We?” I repeated. “So we’d be working together?”
“Surely you don’t object? I mean, I’m only trying to help.”
“Yeah, right,” I muttered sarcastically. “Assuming that you really are calling to lend me a hand with some undefined problem that I’m completely unaware of, you wouldn’t do it for nothing. You want something.”
Gray chuckled. “Astute as always. All right, I do want something, but it’s the same thing I’ve sought in the past. I want you to work for me.”
“Forget it. Conversation over,” I declared. The last thing I wanted or needed was to be indebted to a man like Gray. Working for him was completely out of the question.
“But don’t you even want to hear what the problem is?” he asked.
“Doesn’t matter,” I replied definitively. “Whatever it is, I’ll handle it on my own. I don’t need your help.”
“And you know that for a fact?”
“I do.”
“Then you don’t know Jack!” he blurted out, laughing, and then hung up on me.
I sat there for a moment, frowning. The way he’d uttered that last statement had struck me as odd – as if there had been some inside joke I was unaware of. However, before I could devote any more time to it, I felt my grandfather reaching out for me mentally.
<Jim,> he said, with something of an urgent tone, <I need you to get down here asap.>
Chapter 28
At super speed, it took me less than a minute to shower, get dressed, and make myself presentable. Dashing downstairs, I found my grandfather in the main living room, but not alone.
With him was a man who I pegged to be in his early forties, but in great physical condition. He stood next to my grandfather with his hands behind his back in a position I recognized as parade rest. His dark hair was just starting to show a hint of gray, and was cut in a high-and-tight style. Finally, he wore a dark uniform that appeared to be military, although it didn’t conform with the standard attire for any of the armed services that I was familiar with. All in all, despite the unusual uniform, everything about him screamed “career soldier.”
“Jim,” my grandfather said, motioning me over. “This is Colonel Drake Dreiser. Drake, this is my grandson, Jim.”
“Colonel?” I repeated. “What branch of service?”
“Drake’s part of a special unit,” Gramps cut in, not giving our guest a chance to reply. “He’s here to talk about an issue that’s come up.”
“I’ll get straight to the point,” the colonel said. “As you’re both aware, the government maintains several discreet high-end superstructures for the purpose of containing sentient threats that can’t – for a variety of reasons – be housed in ordinary facilities.”
Supermaxes for supervillains, I thought, but didn’t say anything, choosing instead to simply nod as Gramps did.
“Last night,” Dreiser went on, “one of these structures was breached.”
“Someone broke out?” Gramps asked.
The
