He rounded the final bend and pulled up at what remained of the Stark home. It was a scene of complete destruction. Nothing remained standing or intact except for the concrete foundation walls and floor. Every wall, every piece of furniture, every personal belonging — and likely, every person — had been reduced to dust and ash. The only good news was that the fire had been confined to the house, and therefore they’d avoided the chaos of a forest fire inside the massive walls of the community.
Baker shook his head, still too much in shock after the events of this day. Investigative teams would secure the area, but it was too dark to see anything, even if they could bring in portable lights. Clearly, there was nothing left to see. They’d all be back out here tomorrow morning, and he’d be here with them, trying to figure out what had happened.
He walked to the fire chief, who was staring at the destruction in disbelief. “Any chance of survivors?” He knew it was a ridiculous question, but felt he needed to ask.
The chief shook his head. “None, Michael. Not unless they got out before the fire started. We’ll be lucky to recover any remains, let alone find survivors. If the explosion and flames happened as you described them...anybody inside would have been dead almost instantly, either from the blast or the heat. Given the destruction I’m seeing, this is clearly arson, and the arsonist used some type of chemical that made those flames spread rapidly, and at an incredibly high temperature. I’m guessing the explosion meant that it happened faster than he expected.”
“Meaning...?”
“Meaning that our arsonist probably turned to ashes in there as well.”
Baker nodded, and his expression was grim. That meant they’d never get the true answers as to why all of this had happened, why at least six people had died in this neighborhood today, counting the two security guards at the entry to the community, and the killer arsonist.
He shook his head at the tragedy of it all. “Call me if they find anything tonight,” he told the chief and the lead crime scene investigator, without really meaning it. He climbed into his cruiser and headed back to the station, wishing he could go home to his wife and son instead, and hug them just a little tighter than usual.
VII
Debrief
The Aliomenti Hunters and Leader watched the police cruiser leave the human community where Will Stark’s home had once been. They were safely hidden in the trees opposite the entrance to that community, having exited without being seen by any humans, emergency personnel or otherwise. Like many advanced Aliomenti, they possessed many incredible skills, including short-range teleportation. Those skills enhanced their ability to exist in the human world without being discovered.
Athos wondered, in hindsight, if they should have used teleportation to enter the neighborhood. Having The Assassin kill the guards as planned did have a number of benefits, the most important being that they’d used no Energy getting inside, and that meant Will Stark would have no idea where they were or if they were even involved. Since neither guard had been able to alert anyone to their presence, they’d significantly reduced the chance that anyone would see them. The fact that Stark’s own security prevented the human authorities from entering the community to come to his aid — and potentially seeing
them
— was deliciously ironic. Stark had seemed truly stunned by the fire. Somehow, though, he’d contacted his Alliance friends and gotten his memory erased, and everybody had gotten away. Again.
He sighed, considering the nature of the plan as the Hunters and Leader walked back to the hotel suite they shared. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, as flawless as a plan could be against a powerful, resourceful criminal like Will Stark. But the Leader would undoubtedly blame him for the failure, citing poor planning, or poor execution of the plan. Stark wasn’t in custody, and thus the Hunt had failed.
The four men arrived at the outskirts of the hotel on foot, staying in the shadows, and then teleported into the suite. They couldn’t travel far with teleportation. Teleportation was an Energy-intensive skill, with demands increasing exponentially as the travel distance grew. That was, in fact, another of the reasons he elected not to use teleportation to get into the neighborhood. The Hunters needed to be fully charged to deal with Stark. He hadn’t wanted to use it to get back
out
of the neighborhood, either. They had a small transport craft, capable of near-invisibility, waiting outside the fortress; once they’d subdued Stark, Athos had planned to summon the robotic craft to fly them all out, and they would board a private airplane back to Headquarters. The eventual use of teleportation was forced by circumstance; the sirens of the fire engines and police cars were getting too close, and they couldn’t risk being spotted.
Athos spoke immediately. “Sir, I just wanted to say—”
“Silence,” The Leader said, his face drawn. “I was
there
, Athos. The plan was sound. It was executed correctly. The Alliance clearly has some power unknown to us, and that is what they used to remove him from our clutches.”
Athos was relieved. “Sir, I...thank you.”
The Leader ignored him. “If you had told me the tale and I’d not been there, I’d likely have had you imprisoned for lying. But I saw it with my own eyes. We must deal with the reality of what this encounter with Stark means for our future.”
The Hunters were tense, concerned about where The Leader might go with this.
“My first question is this: where is The Assassin?”
Porthos blinked. “He hasn’t contacted you?”
“Clearly not, since I asked,” the Leader replied, his tone one of scathing exasperation. “I am wondering if any of you saw him in Stark’s house when you entered.”
Athos opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it. He hadn’t thought to look. “I saw no one in the house. That’s concerning. We should have seen the bodies of the woman...and the alleged child. The fire was more intense on the exterior walls than on the inside; it was difficult to breathe, but it wasn’t so hot that the bodies of the two humans would be burned to ashes.”
“How much of the house did you search?”
“We were focused on looking for Stark on the way in, sir, and we teleported out before the fire bomb went off. We saw a large portion of the first floor and the entire lower level. There was no sign of anyone in the portions of the home we viewed.”
“I was a bit slower to the lower level, where we’d surmised Stark had been taken,” Aramis added. “As Athos said, there was no sign of any human or Aliomenti in the house. So the only possibility is that they were upstairs...”
“...or that The Assassin failed to kill them,” the Leader finished. At the looks of incredulity on the faces of the Hunters, he continued. “I think we have to consider the possibility that an Alliance that could save Stark, in the manner we saw, would certainly be capable of saving his wife and child as well. If that is the case, The Assassin fled, or he was captured as well. This is a disturbing development.”
Athos frowned. “They couldn’t have gotten to the house that quickly. And the hole that Stark used to enter the house—“
“And there’s the rub, Athos,” the Leader said. “We don’t
know
if Stark ever entered that house after leaving our sight. We
assumed
it. Porthos,” he turned to the man with the cloak, “did you detect any Energy readings inside?”
Porthos frowned. “No, I didn’t. Well, let me correct that. I detected very
faint
traces of Energy, but they were fading, as if...”
“It was as if whoever left those traces had disappeared, wasn’t it?”
Porthos shook his head. “Not possible. If they’d teleported away, even just a few hundred yards, the residual Energy left behind would have hit me harder than those flames. It was as if there were a few distinct Energy users, but they either left a long time ago, or they leaked so little Energy that they never
did
anything. They would have been neophytes, just learning to sense Energy, given the intensity I detected.”
“I agree with your assessment, Porthos. It’s another piece of evidence of what I believe happened.” He paused, considering. “Let’s move back in time a bit. Stark is distraught at the sight of his house ablaze, and is easily subdued, just as planned. Aramis Dampers him, and the three of you vent some frustrations on him.” He scowled, and the Hunters quailed at the look, but The Leader merely continued. “Stark pleads ignorance, and drops the bombshell about having a child. Athos detects he is telling the truth. Porthos detects no Energy.”
Porthos nodded. “He was dry as the desert.”
“Yet, only moments later, he is rescued in what can only be considered a miraculous fashion. I’ve seen no telekinetic power strong enough to pull a man into the ground...and if it were, the result would likely crush the man...or suffocate him. Why did none of us detect any Energy during the time when our blades couldn’t puncture the man and when he vanished into the ground? Surely such a feat would require an enormous amount of Energy. But none was detected.”
Aramis nodded. “This goes back to the earlier point. There’s no Energy in the basement of the house, which is the most likely end point after Stark was taken. But we see no one in the house, detect no Energy. This is very wrong indeed.”
“On the contrary, it all points to two assumptions we’re making, and one of those assumptions is clearly wrong. The first is that Stark’s rescue, and the lack of any bodies in the house — living or dead — means that the Alliance is involved. I don’t think we can disprove that this is the case; indeed, I rather think it must be the Alliance.”
The Hunters nodded.
“But the second assumption is that the rescue could have happened solely through a massive expenditure of Energy. What if the Alliance had no need to use Energy to effect this rescue, and as such we only detected very trace amounts of leakage, rather than the massive spike we thought we should see?”
The Hunters considered this. “So, you’re suggesting that the Alliance has developed technology that can do this?” Athos asked.
“Precisely. It fits, doesn’t it? And because we had no awareness of this technological advance, we were chasing Energy bursts that didn’t exist, and it gave them time to escape while we did so.”
Porthos looked puzzled. “The concept seems to work, but I’m at a loss to explain what type of technology could do everything we’ve seen today. Is it possible rather that they’ve developed something that can mask Energy so it can’t be detected?”
The Leader considered it. “Perhaps. In either case, the Alliance has clearly developed
something
advanced, and it is this
something
which enabled Stark’s escape.”
Aramis spoke up. “There’s also the possibility that Stark manipulated us rather badly. And by us, I mean me primarily. When he made his...confession, I dropped my concentration levels and as such my Damper was released. Stark may have regained sufficient Energy to do what we saw without help.”
The Leader frowned. “Explain this in more depth, please.”
“Consider: I have the Damper on. We have him trapped, and our focus is on finally subduing him and taking him back home. Then he drops his bombshell. I lose my concentration and drop the Damper, Athos and Porthos lose their cool, and Stark quietly uses his Energy reserves to construct a shield against our blades and then pulls himself away.”
Athos shook his head. “Couple of issues there. First, you had the Damper on when I Read him. He couldn’t have used Energy at the time, and as such he couldn’t have used Energy to fool my Reading on him. He had no memory
anywhere
in him about his past dealings with us. Secondly, if your Energy is back, and you’re Will Stark, why bother with deflecting knives and burrowing into the ground? Why not just teleport far away?”
“The man had been beaten pretty badly. His Energy reserves were undoubtedly being tapped for healing. He couldn’t spare the Energy for something like a teleport at that point.”
“And if he’d used Energy, even for healing, let alone his burrowing trick, I would have known immediately,” Porthos snapped. “Nice try, Aramis. Your theory only works if Athos and I are both simultaneously unable to do our jobs while you’re crying on the ground like a baby. Good cover.”
“Shut up, Porthos!” Aramis snapped, turning red.
“Make me, tough guy. Oh look, Aramis, there’s somebody saying they broke an Oath. Time to throw a fit!”
“Ahem,” The Leader said, and the two Hunters were immediately silent, though they did stare daggers at each other.
“We do need to consider Stark’s claim of fathering a child,” the Leader said. “Simply put, we have no direct, concrete evidence to prove or disprove the claim. There were no bodies seen in the house, and we’ll need to monitor the local news reports for the next few days to see if any bodies are located, or if they at least reference a child as missing or deceased. The humans will know the truth of his claim. We may hear reports of five or more bodies found in the house by the human authorities.”
“Five?” Porthos asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Stark. His wife. The alleged child. The Assassin. One or more Alliance members helping Stark.” The Leader raised a finger as he listed each individual. “We could hear of five or more, or we could hear of four presumed deaths if the human authorities conclude that the Starks and their killer all perished in the fire and burned beyond recognition.”