Part Ten

Blue Impact was actually dozing at her private work carrel in the main room of the old bakery when she was woken by fulminous swearing. From Gadgetive.

"What's going on?" she said, shaking her head to try and clear it more quickly as she hurried to the lounge area.

"There's a seismic disturbance at the Adirondack Anomaly!" she yelled.

"What?!"

"I kept ignoring the USGS alerts, 'cause I was so worried about Vic," the gadgeteer explained, quickly, as she pointed to the main display. "Finally I opened the app, just so I could shut it up. Only then I noticed where it was!"

"It's empty. No-one should be hurt if it collapses."

"No, no! Look!"

Gadgetive did something and the display on the big screen changed from a map centered on the Anomaly facility to what looked like an oscilloscope with two traces of different colors and amplitudes and a slight offset, but of the same frequency.

"See how the phase of the small one is leading the large one, pumping it? The shocks are shallow, and not only continuing steadily - completely different from natural earth tremors - they're at the resonant frequency of the tower! Something - or someone - is deliberately causing geologic disturbances to make it sway."

That woke her up!

"Another assault on the facility?" said Blue Impact, confused. "Argh! Well, maybe we can catch whoever it is in the act this time. Get ready to fly. I'll contact... Well, everyone!"

* * *

As it turned out, many supers were willing to help. The FX - even though the tower was outside the county - included. Ma assured Blue Impact that some of their team members would be ready for pickup when they came for Energia. The rest would stay behind, to guard Michelle and respond to local emergencies. Even with stopping at the Fox building for the pickup, the large apergy flyer could get them and Tricorne to the scene before anyone else.

Energia planned to get ready quietly and leave Michelle sleeping, but when she came out of the bathroom the woman was sitting up in bed.

"What's going on?"

"Sorry. Super hero emergency. I'll be back as soon as I can."

She didn't like that, but after being assured the some team members and the security staff would still be on duty Michelle was mollified.

Energia was surprised when she was joined on the roof by Posey, Sircada, Isarda and Salamander.

"I thought you couldn't operate outside the county."

"We don't get paid for operations outside the county," said Sircada, "but we can volunteer to help anywhere."

The flyer arrived shortly after. Energia took her usual seat up front, but the four members of The FX had to crowd into the back.

"I should have flown there on my own," said Energia, as the heavily loaded travel pod sluggishly climbed.

"No," said Blue Impact. "You would have gone ahead on your own and not only gotten yourself in trouble, but let them know we were coming."

"I guess I can't argue with that," said Energia, with a sigh. She looked through the open doorway into the rear of the vehicle. "You folks all right back there?"

"Who do I have to fuck to get a seat in this thing?" yelled someone.

"Was that Posey?!" said Gadgetive, startled.

"I'm afraid so," said Sircada, almost laughing.

"There's a knee in my crotch!"

"You're not alone in that," said Salamander.

"It is rather crowded with four of us back here," said Isarda, in a strained understatement. "Blue Impact's motorcycle is putting a dent in one of my kidneys with its handlebar."

"Not for long," said Blue Impact. "We're having to max out the drives, but we're making good time. Just a few more minutes."

* * *

Abraham Stone couldn't understand what was wrong. He kept slipping further and further behind schedule! The tower had failed to respond at first, and diagnostics had not quickly revealed why. Initially he suspected the control lines he had run into the tower through the hollow center of one of the pilings might have a flaw. However, communication through the cables showed full integrity. He finally went to the tower to check manually, and discovered that some of the parts were missing. They had been found after several minutes of frantic searching. Installing them required several more frantic minutes. Then he had hurried back to his underground control room to find the equipment responding, but incorrectly!

The tower kept reporting that it was out of alignment! Not only was that impossible, but every time he realigned it, it went out again! As if the tower was moving, but it was far too solidly built to sway that far, no matter how strong the wind! There was no way it could move that much!

Stone quickly checked for seismic activity. He was stunned by what he found.

"What... how..."

There was some sort of activity! Not much, but enough to throw the alignment of the tower off. How... He wasn't doing this! Was the Anomaly somehow acting to his intended use?! How, since he hadn't started, yet!? No test had shown it to be chronologically disparate.

An alarm sounded, announcing the arrival of a vehicle on the facility's helipad. This was from one of several induction loops the facility had installed due to problems with visitors arriving while everyone was working at the tower and being caught by surprise. Stone had included a relay from that to his own control center, just as a backup. Now it was the only thing giving an alarm. Checking the Webcam on the tower, though, he saw nothing. What...

A door appeared in the air, and several people in costume came through.

A stealthed vehicle of some sort!

They had apparently just arrived, so who was tilting the tower?! None of this was due to his actions! It didn't make sense!

* * *

"I'm sensing a lot of electrical activity from underground," said Energia, as she lofted out of the rear hatch. She ignored the members of The FX standing behind the flyer, who were stretching. Posey, in particular, was making a show of that activity, with accompanying moans of relief.

"They had the power and data lines buried to reduce interference," said Gadgetive.

"No, this is a lot more and some of it is in a different place than I felt last time we were here. I'm also feeling more stuff going in and out of the tower, though it's still far from full activity, from the way I've heard you describe it."

"Gadgetive, take Isarda and check whether the parts you took out of the device are actually still out," said Blue Impact. "The rest of you, scatter in pairs and check the area. I'll stay in the flyer to coordinate."

* * *

Stone was beginning to regret sending the New Breed off on activities intended to divert super attention away from the facility. Still, he was perfectly capable of handling a few supers, secure as he was in this underground bunker. They didn't even know he was down here! These caves were well away from the research facility and the communications and power lines were well hidden. Well, except where he had run his own control lines into the tower, just before starting his operation. Someone would have to go into the tower and search the ground floor to find those.

He decided to focus on the seismic disturbance. Which was definitely not natural. Perhaps something in the old Subterran tunnels was reacting to his activities?

* * *

"It's running this way," said Energia, flying low and slow. Partly to dodge around trees, partly so Sircada could keep up and partly because of the difficulty of following the subterranean signatures she was tracing. "This wasn't here - or maybe just not active - the last time I was in this area."

Sircada ran after her, picking his way through the sparse trees. This wasn't a park, but government owned natural forest. The county, then the state, then finally the feds had taken control of the land, as the strangeness of the Anomaly had become more and more apparent through the years.

"We're moving almost directly away from the center," he called out to Energia.

"Yeah. So if someone is monkeying with the tower, this is the shortest route to run cables. Though why they're causing noticeable seismic disturbances I don't know."

"Unforseen side effect?"

"Whatever it is, I'm getting piezoelectric effects in time with the seismic disturbances, centered just ahead!"

* * *

"Hey, teach!" Gadgetive called over the coms. "Isarda and I found a hatch open in the ground level of the tower! It's an inspection access, goes down through the center of one of the pilings; I remember seeing this on the plans. It's not supposed to be open, though. It's definitely not supposed to have communications cables running through it, patched into the tower's control system."

"You two go check that out, then," said Blue Impact. "Forget about the tower device for now; track where those those cables go!"

"I'm getting electrical stuff well away from the facility," said Energia, likewise. "I followed power and communications lines deep underground to a forested area where there's not supposed to be anything. They stop here, too. Nothing at ground level."

"All right. You're with Sircada, right? See if you can find or make an entrance."

"Roger."

"Posey, Salamander head that way, too. I'll join you there." She secured the flyer and started out. "Oh, and leave the power and control lines intact! At least until we can see what's going on."

"Gotcha'a!"

Energia stopped at a location where she could sense multiple types of power and data signals moving towards some sort control area. Hopefully, this was above a tunnel or bore large enough for humans to access it.

"I'm gonna make an access," she warned Sircada. "This seems to be where it's closest to the surface. So, watch out."

He wasn't certain what she meant. However, when a blast of heat erupted from the ground below where she was hovering, he quickly got the idea. As well as very quickly moving further away. Salamander and Posey joined him shortly after Energia started.

Thanks to the heavy power lines coming in to the space below, Energia had a plentiful source of energy to draw from. She poured the heat on, while also pulling the molten material up and out of the way in a thick, sluggish, arcing stream. She dumped this lava into a lump in the nearby woods, starting a smoldering fire in the damp undergrowth. By the time she breached the open volume underneath the breakers between the transformer and the building were ready to trip, but she was through and still had a full store. She dropped into the cavity.

"Shit..." said Sircada, stunned.

"You two jump," said Salamander. "I'll climb down after you. The heat won't bother me."

"Suck it up and get in there!" snapped Blue Impact, just arrived and already running past them for the hole. She paused at the edge to look down, ignoring the fact that the soles of her boots were burning. "We need to give her backup. It's not far down; just jump, avoiding the sides."

"Which are still red hot," Sircada muttered, as he hurried after her.

He jumped, holding his breath and closing his eyes. He couldn't completely avoid a brief brush against the side, given his trajectory, but both he and his costume were tough enough there was no damage. The drop, however, was further than he expected, and he hit a bit hard. He sat up, shook his head and looked around. Blue Impact was already looking around the tunnel they were now in. He rolled smoothly to his feet and moved in behind her as she started down the tunnel. Just in time to clear the way for Posey.

She also hit hard, rolled over and groaned.

"Ow. Forcefield or not, that was a real jolt."

She realized there was no-one there to hear her. In fact, she wasn't sure which way to go. She was in a dimly lit tunnel - which Energia's shaft had hit the side of - and that gave her two directions to try. Shrugging, she got to her feet and limped off in one of those.

* * *

Abraham Stone almost ignored the blast of heat, distracted by a sudden, huge power drain. He was so involved in trying to figure out what was going on that at first he dismissed the heat as irrelevant. Then he heard yelling.

Time go go, he instantly decided. He hated to abandon this effort, but his data was all backed up offsite. He would live to try again.

He quickly activated the destruct sequence - which involved mechanically throwing three switches in three locations on the way to his escape tunnel, each of which required more than human strength to move and which ignited thermite charges once the third switch was thrown - and ran out.

Energia arrived just in time to see someone in a suit run out of the chamber.

"Dammit!" she shouted. "He's is getting away!"

"Do not chase him alone!" Blue Impact yelled. "The escape tunnel is likely trapped!"

Energia started to protest, then realized there was an unusual amount of heat coming from several locations in the room. She began siphoning it away, hoping to save the equipment.

"Where is everybody?" Salamander yelled, as he finally reached the bottom of the hole.

"This way!" Sircada yelled.

Meanwhile, Posey - running the other way - had found the prisoners. Including one specific one.

"Vic?!

"Posey?!" said the martial artist, startled out of her ki projection mischief.

"Where are the others?" said Posey, looking around, confused.

"Unconscious, in those cages."

"I mean the others from Tricorne and The FX."

"I haven't seen them."

"I went the wrong way!"

"No, wait! Stay here and get me out of this! Just be careful of the bars. They're charged."

Posey changed course and hurried over to Vic's cage. She tentatively touched the bars.

"I think I can ground this with my force field. Can you break out then?"

"Yeah. I've had plenty of time to find the weak spots. Just grab hold over here."

Vic needed three quick strikes to break one of the bars loose at the top and bottom. She then squeezed out through the barely large enough gap, wincing as the paper exam gown tore down the center front.

"Let's go!" said Vic, starting down the tunnel.

"I can see your heinie!" said Posey, scandalized.

"You didn't happen to see where Stone hid our clothes, did you?"

"So Abraham Stone is behind all this?"

"You mean you folks came charging down here without knowing I was here or that Stone was in charge of all this??"

"No! We just knew something weird was going on at the research facility."

Vic scowled and muttered under her breath as they ran down the tunnel.