Page 33 of Vapor
Magicked? I look around, then just start walking. “Okay. I need to get to Command Ops.”
“We have…”
“Pres Vapor, I can get you to the Club with Alder.” Nash appears and bends fast. Alder climbs on his back.
Julius is shaking his head in the no motion and points ahead. I see the bikes so I beg off that one. “I’ll ride one of the bikes but thanks.”
They’re gone. I squeeze my eyes shut then open and they’re still gone.
“I’m pretty sure I made that face when the blue light was raining down. VP Logan Done is here. He’s from Princes in Rhode Island and worked at the original Mass MC Badass before the VP job in Vermont. He’s a reader and does the magic moves like floating too fast for people to see. He magicked me today and I asked for it to be the last time.” Julius is funny saying that with a straight face.
“I’ll see what that means later but I may be right with you on disappearing and floating people. When I met you, you at least had a suit on.”
He laughs. “So, this is me.”
I look at the other bike.
“I don’t know who it belongs to but VP rode it up to here.”
I nod and get on his bike. He gets on behind me causing my smile to show again. He’s got no problem with me being rude. When his arms go around me, I think he’s just a smart man andIdidn’t think this through. The minute ride won’t kill me so I start the bike and hope the one I’m getting is like this. It’s a freaking Ducati!
The big barn still looks like a barn but I spot the edge of more buildings as we make the turn into the lot.
“What’s the metal building?” I ask figuring it will take us through the deceptive barn building and up into command.
“It’s not real metal. Alder uses recycled material and prints his own blocks now. They’re bulletproof but he says they’re not nuclear tested.”
He’s got my eyes on him pretty fuckin’ fast. “You’ve had nuclear threats?” I know Badass is always butting heads with the government but to threaten nukes?
He smiles walking the stairs with me. “Nope. He tested for everything but nuclear. The force fields stop missiles from landing in them but bullets from choppers can still hit so he makes material that bullets can’t penetrate.”
“That sounds all kinds of paranoid but Stella mentioned her lab getting shot up.” I met the woman once.
“I don’t know about it but I’m not surprised. Badass has been fighting forever. Ben Knight and every Prince have been under attack since birth. The fight for right is a fight for life. My mom pushed me to be better, learn more and understand the fight from our opponent’s point of view. It doesn’t stop that fight but it keeps it fair, just and causes us to look for solutions instead of death. From when I was young, I heardBe Legendary. It seemed to mirror my favorite comic books so I saw the high road as the road to that Legendary status. Alder is already legendary. He won’t ever test nukes because he’d hurt the environment and his Brothers. They did test for everything else. I believe an Alaskan tribe has all new igloos, insulated flooring material, solar powered LED or glow lights and heaters. When the sun doesn’t shine, generators using alternative fuel powers everything. They’ve lasted one winter so far and the Club up there is getting what they can out to more.” He stops before we walk into command so I turn his way seeing the big smile. “Alder knows how to Be Legendary and he’s in it to win like the rest of Badass.”
I smile, shake my head fast and pull his arm in, so I’m not blinking tears away from the ultimate cheesy my JAG Julius always stuns me with. I don’t get far and stop short seeing the fire on Mase, Alder talking to an office of Alpha-Bits that looks filmy or something and the shooting the BSC chopper is doing on the road that I’m pretty sure leads here. “Is that fight here?”
“Cort got me a board so I can see tracking.” He flips a board and it shows a preloaded screen. “Tracking shows it’s the next piece of land over. I think that’s Badass land.”
“Commander, Brother. It’s Badass land and I’ll have them being loaded in the bunker. The fight is done, they’re just playing right now.”
I nod at the smiling Mase. “What are they doing with the harnesses?”
He smiles bigger. “Cort says they can’t ride inside. Ranger called them swingers. He transported cars with pussies fastened to the cars and called it the magic car ride.”
I laugh with Julius and the Night Stalkers.
“Budgie, get Magic car ride Op here to SOAR virtual,” Alder tells someone.
A little filmy looking boy smiles up at Alder as if just being named blesses him. He’s another little cherub faced boy but he looks like a toddler. “Roger, Pres Alder.”
That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. “He’s like a tiny soldier,” I whisper.
Julius chuckles softly. “I saw them like that when I first got here. They’re older than they look and more capable than me at most everything, but that adorable, innocent look hits hard.”
“Gut punched. Yeah.” I look up at the different chopper sounds. The whole room erupts in laughter. The two on the car look like they’re just barely holding on but we see the carabiners and zip ties as the chopper turns and car swings closer. I can see the difference in the feed and the pictures the drones use to overlay for virtual.
“Six maybe seven year ago.” Alder smiles.
