With their own injured seen to, Sarida, Carina and Nikoli did their best to aid in the rescue efforts in the aftermath of that horrible day.

“Father, we have to get you out of here… now... no arguments please.” Trish ordered.

“I agree with you Tricia, but how do we get out?” the Professor responded logically.

“Just leave that to us and follow closely, we’ll take care of any opposition,” she glanced about furtively.

“I understand. I… uh… thank you…” Julian was at a loss for words.

Trish triggered the door and scanned the hallway for any opposition. She grabbed her father by the arm and led him to where the main elevator shafts for the tower were. The concrete and steel cladding was thick but she had a large hole torn through to the inner core in minutes. The hard part lay ahead. Trish grabbed her father, stepped into the emptiness, and began a controlled fall downwards to the lobby level. Luckily, the elevator cab was above them and headed in the opposite direction. Reaching the lobby, she opened the doors and stepped out into the lobby. The two walked casually towards the main doors as Trish reached out with her mind and set off the fire alarm systems to cover their escape. They quickly lost themselves in the panicking crowd and walked toward the street. As they exited the building, Trish configured the ACM to street clothing and hustled her father into a nearby taxi.

“Battery Park please,” Trish requested as she and Julian entered the cab.

“Yes Ma’am,” the driver responded making no further comment.

The ride to the park was uneventful and Trish paid the cabbie with the emergency cash that they kept in a pouch of the ACM. Professor Saber hugged the young woman and they walked to the southernmost point of Manhattan Island.

“Thank you Tricia and I assume, Dr. Howard,” Julian spoke quietly. “I was certain I would die at the hands of that madman. I’m ashamed of what he finally forced me to do for him…” Julian hung his head sadly.

“We’ll talk about all of this later Father,” Trish shushed him. “We’re still very exposed here and we have to get you back to the AERI and safety.”

Greg offered.

she asked.

he chuckled good naturedly.

“Greg suggests we drive to Ganaoque and cross over into Canada from there,” Trish filled her father in. “I agree that a low key approach is probably the best plan but we’re in danger until we can get you into Saber Base.” The Professor raised his eyebrows quizzically.

“Saber Base?” he smiled skeptically.

“You’ll see…” she smiled back, “…but for now we have to fly low across the East River into Brooklyn. We’ll rent a van there and head north. Grab hold of my neck and hold tight Father.” Trish was relieved to have made it this far but she maintained her vigilance lest anything untoward should suddenly appear.

They landed two blocks from the Marriott Brooklyn and walked to the hotel and the branch of New York Rent-A-Car that was in the lobby. The Professor stepped into the men’s room and Trish into the women’s. A moment later, Greg ducked out of the women’s lounge and into the men’s. They really had to consider a better way of changing at some point, but phone booths just seemed too cliché. Besides… where the hell could you find a phone booth in New York nowadays… everyone has a cell phone.

“Professor Saber?” he whispered. “It’s Greg Howard.” The last stall opened and the Professor stepped out, he had tidied himself up and looked completely presentable.

“A pleasure to finally meet you Dr. Howard,” Julian greeted him warmly. “Thank you for getting me out of my little predicament,” he joked amiably.

“The pleasure is mine Professor, but we’re not quite out of the woods yet. Please follow me.” Greg guided Julian from the washroom and the two men walked casually to the car rental counter. Greg spoke to the woman standing behind it.

“Good morning, I’d like to rent a van please… if you have one available that is,” Greg smiled pleasantly at the woman.

“Certainly Sir, may I have your driver’s licence and a major credit card?” she requested.

“Sure thing… here you go, is Visa all right?”

“Yes Sir, and your destination?” she asked as she began entering the data into her computer.

“Well,” Greg drawled, “my father and I are sight-seeing and we’ve decided to dive up to the Thousand Islands. I gather that a three day rental ought to be enough to see the beauty of upstate New York.”

“Oh, what a wonderful trip… it is very nice up there,” she said enthusiastically.

“Is there a branch of your company up there?” he asked hopefully. “We’re considering taking the train home from the St. Lawrence area,” Greg explained.

“No, unfortunately there isn’t,” she shook her head. “However, we can arrange for a pick up of the vehicle in Watertown if you’d like, there’s just a small surcharge for that service. What vehicle would you prefer? We have a 2009 Ford Escalade available.”

“That sounds wonderful. Please charge everything to the card and any extras you think we may need,” Greg directed.

“All right Sir, one moment…” she retrieved the print outs and placed them in front of Greg, “…please sign the forms here and here Mr. Howard.” He signed the papers and noted where the vehicle had to be dropped off in the upstate New York town.

“Thank you, Mr. Howard, the vehicle is being brought around now. Enjoy your trip and thank you for choosing New York Rent-A-Car,” she smiled professionally.

“Thank you very much and have a terrific day,” Greg responded as he turned to leave. He collected the paperwork and walked with the Professor to the lobby doors. He shuddered when he caught sight of the vehicle. The SUV was extremely large and Greg knew instinctively that it was going to be a fuel hog. He put that thought out of his mind as he helped the Professor into the truck’s passenger seat. Collecting the keys from the attendant, he got into the driver’s side and adjusted the seat and mirrors. With a little wave, he drove carefully out of the Marriott’s lobby circle and onto Adams Street. They picked up Highway 80 outside Jersey City and caught 81 at the interchange in Pennsylvania. The Professor took advantage of the six hour trip to sleep and Greg just enjoyed the simple pleasure of driving.

It was approaching 3:00 in the afternoon when Greg pulled into Syracuse for a rest stop and food and gas. The Professor woke up as Greg got out of the truck to fill the tank.

“Where are we Greg?” he asked, blinking his eyes in the mid-afternoon sunlight.
“Syracuse, just off I-81,” Greg replied casually. “I figured gas and food were in order. Are you hungry?”

“Famished, actually,” Julian admitted while stretching his cramped limbs.” I haven’t eaten at all today. I suppose your energy reserves are getting a little low as well by now.”

“Well, now that you mention it, we’re running at about 40 percent,” Greg glanced briefly around at the off-ramp restaurants. “Do you have any preferences?”

“I must admit to a craving for… forgive me… Denny’s. It’s been years since I ate there,” the Professor admitted sheepishly.

“Denny’s it is then,” Greg chuckled, “and look, there’s one right across the street, how convenient.”

Greg paid for the gas and they drove over to the Denny’s restaurant. They ordered and enjoyed the Great American Road Food Experience. The Professor had a sirloin steak with shrimp while Greg ate the fisherman’s platter and felt his energy levels beginning to approach normal again. They were back on Interstate 81 about an hour later and headed north again when Professor Saber broke the silence.

“Excuse me Dr. Howard…” he began politely.

“It’s Greg, please Professor, you’re practically my father-in-law,” Greg clucked. The Professor raised his eyebrows once again but let the comment pass.

“Alright then Greg,” he continued, “I was wondering why you didn’t join up with the rest of The Enhanced?” Julian finally asked the question that had been plaguing him since he’d first heard about The SIX.

“Two reasons Professor…” Greg responded, “…the first being that I didn’t bond with Trish until late December 2008 and the second is that Trish and I started noticing things that required a bit of a lower profile in order to be investigated properly. By this time, the world thought that The SIX were the only enhanced humans, or superheroes if you prefer, and it made our investigative work much easier to continue with the minor deception. Call it caution, but I wasn’t going to risk Trish by ‘going all Spiderman’. Professor, you have to understand that I am truly in love with Trish, and she with me. I won’t risk her for anything, although this last mission came close a couple of times,” Greg spoke sincerely as the Professor pondered this new information.

“I think I understand Greg, and by the way, you can call me Julian. I’m glad to know that you’re dedicated to protecting my daughter, but the powers and abilities that were granted to you are supposed to be for protecting the world…” Julian trailed off.

“And that’s what we’ve been doing Julian,” Greg interrupted. “Maybe not in a flashy way like The SIX, but we’re helping to protect the planet’s environment and peoples just the same. In fact, the only reason we found you at all was because we are currently involved in an underground battle with a group that calls itself The Council of Twenty.” Julian gave a low whistle.

“You certainly don’t pick easy battles Greg, I’ll give you that. It was also because of those so-called Illuminati that I dedicated my life’s work toward the creation of heroes like yourself. I’m proud of you and not very proud of what I had to do to survive my stay with Mr. Nathanial Ravensclaw,” Julian blushed in embarrassment.

“What do you mean Julian?” Greg was genuinely puzzled.

“I created six more physio-neural suits. Ravensclaw bonded them to his own personal soldiers, including his own daughter,” Julian grimaced at the memories.

“Natalia!?” Greg exploded. He stood on the brakes and came to a skidding stop by the side of the road so he could control his raging emotions. He took several deep breaths before he was able to regain the tenor of his voice.

“You… unleashed six supervillians on the world? Moreover… Natalia Ravensclaw is one of them? Those bastards of The Council have had total control of the human race handed to them… by YOU!” he roared.

Trish demanded.

Greg raged.

she responded sharply.

he began again but she was more forceful.

Trish triggered alter-ego before Greg could object again and turned to address her father.

“Father, Greg’s a little upset right now. He’s going to take a time out and calm down and you’re going to tell me exactly what happened while you were held by The Council,” Trish smoothly took control of the situation.

“I understand Tricia… and I understand Greg’s anger. I wouldn’t have helped them at all if it had been within my power and I did manage to avoid telling them anything at all for over a year, you understand, but then they…” his voice rose in pitch and volume, “…they tortured me! They used scorpions… and they… oh God! I can still remember the fire in my veins as if it were yesterday… AND THEY WOULDN’T LET ME DIE!” The older man broke into a series of racking sobs, trying to express an inarticulate rage and pain. Trish moved to cradle him in her arms as best she could. Presently his sobbing subsided and he removed his glasses to rub his eyes. He took a ragged breath and continued shakily.

“I finally admitted to that demon Ravensclaw that I had indeed given The SIX their powers… I would have said anything to stop the pain… but he didn’t know about you Tricia. I didn’t tell him about you. I made them physio-neural suits, but no AI’s… I wouldn’t inflict those excrescences on poor innocent AI’s... and I also built in a failsafe…” he seemed to relax some as he unburdened himself of his pent up rage and guilt. This confession was a blessing in disguise.

“What kind of failsafe Father?” Trish prompted.

“A code word… it will disable their automated armouring and defence systems even though they’ll still have their powers,” Julian’s breath sounded laboured but his vitals seemed calmer. “Their powers would then work against them and they’d be able to take no more damage then any non-enhanced human… it will make them mortal again. I’m sorry… forgive me… I feel so tired… just a little nap…” the old man was exhausted and his eyes closed unbidden.

Greg sounded alarmed.

she tried to remain calm and logical. She couldn’t lose him now after she’d just found him again. Grabbing the Kychiri blade she quickly unsheathed it, lowered their auto defences and ripped open the Professor’s shirt. She worked carefully as the katana wasn’t designed for this kind of delicate work. She cut a deep gash in the Professor’s chest directly over the heart and then sliced her forearm. Wincing with pain, she allowed her blood, containing the nanomechs, to fall into his wound. The healing on her arm started almost immediately as she watched for any signs of improvement in her father’s condition.

The seconds ticked by interminably slowly and then the hole in the Professor’s chest began to close. Trish bit her lip anxiously and placed her hand on her father’s chest… there… a beat. She felt his throat for a pulse… yes… it was weak but steady.

she crowed.

Greg corrected her.

he pointed out.

she was confused.

Greg explained.

Trish gazed sadly at her father.

There was a groan from the passenger seat and Julian stirred.

“What… happened?” he croaked.

“You were dying Father… we… I had to put some of my nanomechs into your system…” she stammered.

“That was rash of you… Daughter… I have long resisted placing nanomechs in my body… I felt the strain… might kill me…” he smiled wanly. She laughed brokenly through her tears.

“You were dying… I felt the risk was acceptable. Besides, they were programmed only to heal… nothing more.” Julian gave a dry chuckle.

“Then you really… had nothing to…lose, did you? How did you… get them into my bloodstream?” he asked weakly.

“Trust me Daddy, you really don’t want to know right now,” she beamed warmly, “let’s just say that it’s a good thing you were unconscious. Are you feeling better? Would you like a drink of water?” she mothered him worriedly.

“Getting there Darling… I’m getting there. Yes, a sip of water would be most appreciated and then I want to rest for a while,” Julian closed his eyes again.

“OK, I’ll let Greg get back to driving. Here’s some water… now you just sleep,” she soothed.

At Hammer Base, the team tended to its wounded as the last straggler, Mobius returned. The automated healing systems built into the members of the team were astoundingly efficient and everyone was currently recovering from the injuries suffered during the attack on Washington DC and The SIX. Natalia dismissed the team to their quarters for some well-deserved R & R and went to the monitor room to speak with her father as team leader.

“Hammer team leader reporting,” she announced crisply.

“Excellent work Natalia,” he responded while looking at his keyboard. “I’m just working out the headlines for the news feeds now. How does this sound to you? HEROES CRUSHED: SIX TOO FEW.”

“Masterfully worded Father,” Natalia continued her report. “By my last count there were one hundred and sixty seven wounded or dead civilians along with twenty five emergency personal. We had some trouble with that gravity bitch. It seems she can manipulate matter as well as gravity. The rest were like taking candy from a baby,” she smirked. “They seemed to have no coordinated attacks or defences.”

“As I assumed,” he nodded. “Their tactics seem to be woefully neglected. As soon as your people are up to it, we’ll get them training for their next assault.”

“You have a target in mind, Father?” she asked.

“The Alternative Energy Research Institute Europe, followed by lightning strikes on the so called free energy stations worldwide,” Nathanial stabbed his finger at the map on his desk.

“We controlled the energy of the world once before and we will again! The strike will be in a month’s time. Maybe you can have some more fun beating down The SIX again,” he practically glowed.

“I’ll begin planning strategies tomorrow and have a training schedule together in three days time when they’ll both be on your desk,” Natalia responded with a tight smile.

“Very well Daughter… you’ve made me proud. Come back here after you’ve cleaned up, I have someone at the tower I want you to meet,” he requested.

“Alright Father, I’ll be ready in an hour and a half at the helipad.” She turned to leave.

“Natalia, I hope you know that I love you very much,” he said softly. She brushed a tear from her eye and nodded.

“I love you too, Father.”

To Be Continued