The last item was a little trickier to retrieve. It was in the personal possession of Alpha Prime, who was in his quarters at League HQ. Having been there before, I simply teleported inside. Much to my surprise, he was waiting for me.
He was standing in the living room, dressed in his Alpha League uniform. My attention, however, was immediately drawn to the fact that he had his hands together, holding them in a manner that suggested he was using them to hide something from view. I didn’t need the tracker to tell me that what he held was the last component.
“I know why you’re here,” he stated, “but I was hoping we could talk.”
“There’s nothing for us to talk about,” I shot back, knowing it was a mistake to engage. This wasn’t my father I was talking to; it was some thing from another dimension or reality controlling him.
“I think you’re wrong,” he replied. “I have an offer that might interest you.”
I didn’t bother responding. Instead, I simply stared at his hands. Under normal circumstances, Alpha Prime’s position would have been unassailable. There was probably nothing on the planet capable of prying his hands open and forcibly taking what he held. Fortunately, the circumstances were anything but normal.
Continuing to look at Alpha Prime’s hands, I turned them invisible up to the elbow. This seemed to startle him for a moment, and also gave me my first look at the component he held – an ebon-colored little doodad shaped like a cube and about one square inch in size. I teleported it into my hand before making Alpha Prime’s hands visible again. Then I used the tracker to open a dimensional door and swiftly returned to Mouse’s little hideaway.
Chapter 60
Upon my return, I immediately handed over the doomsday components to Mouse.
“Any problems?” he asked as he took the devices over to a nearby worktable.
“None,” I replied, shaking my head as I thought about all the League members – Luna, Buzz, etcetera –who I’d dumped in the marina. “I mean, Alpha Prime tried to make me an offer, but I ignored him.”
Mouse gave me an odd look. “What kind of offer?”
I shrugged. “Don’t know. As I said, I ignored him.”
“Hmmm,” Mouse droned, obviously thinking.
A moment later, he seemingly put the thought aside and turned his attention to the doomsday components. In essence, he put on a pair of what I referred to as “mad scientist goggles” with telescopic lenses, and then began using various tools (including a miniature laser) to work on the items I had retrieved. I watched him in silence, openly curious.
After a few minutes, Mouse – continuing to work without looking up – finally said, “Go ahead and ask.”
“Ask what?” I responded.
“Whatever’s on your mind. I can feel your curiosity building up like a volcano about to erupt.”
“I’m just wondering what you’re doing.”
“I’m making modifications to the devices you retrieved.”
“I can see that,” I countered. “I’m just wondering why.”
“What – did you think these components came magically designed to work with the Construct?” he asked rhetorically. “I have to adjust and tweak them so they’ll do what we need.”
I let this sink in for a moment, then stated, “That raises another question: the Busuigno have been trying to keep you from getting these little doohickeys, so presumably they know what you’re up to.”
“Probably,” Mouse agreed. “As I said before, they’re not stupid.”
“Then why didn’t they just destroy the components? That would keep you from turning on the Construct Magnet and revoking their parole.”
“I’m guessing they didn’t want to risk blowing themselves up.”
“What?!” I uttered incredulously.
Mouse continued to work without looking up. “These components come from doomsday devices, and a couple of them pack quite a punch – could leave all of HQ a smoking crater, in fact.”
“I thought all that stuff was disarmed when it got put in the Vault.”
“It was disassembled,” Mouse corrected. “There’s a difference.”
“Apparently so,” I quipped.
“Look, if it makes you nervous, just go in a corner and phase or something,” Mouse suggested.
“Thanks,” I replied. “Maybe I will.”
***
I didn’t phase, but I did step back and give Mouse room to work in peace. A short time later, he removed the goggles and set aside the equipment he’d been using.
“Okay, I think we’re ready,” he announced.
“Great,” I said. “I’m ready for this thing to be off me.”
“I’m sure it’s eager to detach, seeing as how otherwise it’ll die,” Mouse noted. “Anyway, the next step is for you to simply attach the components to the Construct.”
“Attach?” I queried, raising an eyebrow. “Do I need to glue them on or something?”
“No – bad choice of words on my part,” he admitted. “They’ll adhere on their own, but you have to put each one in the right spot to kick-start the Construct Magnet, as you call it.”
“Well, where exactly do they go?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Mouse said with a smile before pulling up an image of the Construct. “Now, pay attention…”
Chapter 61
It took about ten minutes for Mouse to feel that I could properly recall where to place all seven doomsday components. In truth, I actually had it memorized well before then, but my mentor insisted on drilling it into me over and over. Given the stakes, I couldn’t say I blamed him. At some point, however, he pronounced me fit for service, which finally gave me a chance to ask some questions.
“After I get all these contraptions on the Construct,” I began, “how long before the Busuigno are back where they belong?”
“Should be just a few minutes,” Mouse said.
“Any reason I can’t just teleport the Construct somewhere off the grid and do all this stuff with the doomsday
