Finn brought up images from space. “I thought so too. So, I hacked a couple satellites.” Tessa witnessed a large space station orbiting the Earth. “They have set up a space station and colonies further out.” Finn showed images of a massive station large enough to accommodate several hundred people. An artificial planet. But from the images, Tessa could tell the project was incomplete.
“We’ll take it from them,” Tessa replied, cold and angry.
“How are we going to do that?” Finn attempted to appeal to her logical side. They were already behind H.I.V.E on development.
“I don’t know, but I will take it from them. They will not be the survivors of Earth. I won’t allow it.”
“Tessa, we need to look at other options. Our own options.”
Before Tessa responded, a loud explosion rocked the terminal and part of the control room wall blasted into the room. Concrete and rebar debris struck Tessa hard, sending her across the room and slamming into the wall on the other side. The wind exited her lungs on impact, and the side of her head smashed into the wall from the concussive force of the explosion.
Tessa fell to the ground in a daze as she struggled to maintain consciousness. She heard the sounds of screaming, but it sounded like she was in a bubble. The world moved in slow motion. She tasted blood and sensed pain in her side and looked down to find a piece of glass protruding from her right side.
Finn struggled to reach Tessa as he climbed over debris. His face covered in blood and dirt. The sprinkler system activated spraying water down on them, and the alarms sounded accompanied by flashing lights. Finn inspected the wound in her side and looked around for help. There was no one around, so Finn secured the piece of glass and pulled it from Tessa’s body, sending a surge of pain through her body.
Finn pulled off his shirt and tied it around Tessa’s midsection. The wound poured blood, but the shirt would have to do until they found a medic kit or Arica. Finn helped Tessa back to her feet, and together they limped out of the control room.
The rest of the terminal was in chaos with blast debris and wounded people everywhere. Those that weren’t critically injured dashed around trying to help those that needed assistance. Finn led Tessa to a medic kit in the wall. He pulled the kit down and dug through the contents finding a large gauze bandage and some tape and removed the shirt to attempt a proper dressing.
Arica saw them and ran to assist. She helped Finn get Tessa into a seat and inspected the wound. Arica began cleaning and bandaging as Finn started firing off questions. “What the hell happened?”
Arica answered as best she could, “I have no clue. What I know is this wasn’t the only explosion. I’m not sure what all they hit.”
Tessa tried to sit up, “The arc.”
Arica pushed her back down, “Hold still. You’re in no condition to do anything at the moment.”
“Did they hit the arc?” Tessa inquired.
“I don’t know.”
Finn observed the chaos as he thought, “No warning. So it wasn’t an air raid. Probably an inside job.”
Tessa shook her head, “When I find out who is responsible, there will be a new breed of punishment.”
Arica steadied Tessa as she finished up, “For right now. Let me patch you. Then you’re free to hunt down and murder whomever you wish.”
Arica finished bandaging Tessa’s side and moved to the gash over her left eye. She wiped away the blood, which helped Tessa see more clearly. The blood had dried over her eyelid and made the eye less functional. Tessa hadn’t noticed the impediment since her mind remained focused on the pain and turmoil swirling around her.
She heard another loud boom from outside the terminal, prompting screams from the survivors inside. She tried to stand and rush to the site of the explosion, but Arica pushed her back down. “I’m almost done. Just let me get a butterfly on there, and we can worry about stitches later.”
It aggravated Tessa, “I should be out there helping. Innocent people are dying. I’m supposed to protect them.”
“You can’t protect them if you’re dead.”
Finn attempted to calm her, “You’ll get out there, but let Arica patch you up, so you are well enough to help.”
Tessa swallowed her pride and let Arica finish bandaging her eye. From across the terminal hallway, a commotion caught her eye. Cyclone’s wife, Natalie, fought to get up from the ground as a fellow Evo attempted to treat her injuries. She seemed frantic to get up, and when she failed, she turned to her side, still fighting against her ally. She screamed at Tessa, “Stop him! Stop him before he kills us all!”
She continued to scream, and Tessa started scanning the terminal for suspicious persons. As an empath, she sensed someone nearby who intended to harm the victims recovering in the terminal. Tessa’s eyes fell on a young man who seemed to wander the hallway without purpose. He wore a dark coat, which seemed too bulky. He rubbed his hands together nervously, and Tessa noticed he held an object in his hands.
It only took Tessa a few moments to figure out this man was a suicide bomber. She pushed Arica aside and seized the opportunity to subdue their attacker before they detonated the bomb. Tessa focused her energy around the man to form a sphere. She had used the same concept around herself as a protective barrier to prevent bullets from striking her. This time she focused on securing a force field around the bomber to contain the bomb on the inside of the force field.
The young man looked at her in surprise once he realized the force field surrounded him and
