Legacy

Mariner tuned his helmet speaker to Zenia’s channel and responded. "I see why you called Dormouse the antisocial type."

"Talk to Cindy," Image relayed. "She’s the hero from the good old days."

"Hah. ‘Good old days’ . . . the States and the PRC delivering body blows, the Revelationists keeping everyone on subsistence, and the Empress picking up the pieces."

"Mariner," Beacon interrupted, "you’ve got two hostiles coming in point-three-five."

The flier aded his telescopic lenses and replied, "I see them. They’re too small to be fighters, but I’m going in for a closer look."

Zenia waved to Mariner and said, "Be careful."

He snickered, "Aren’t I always?" The whoosh of Mariner’s jetpack and boot jets was static to the riders and to Image who kept them in touch.

Dormouse took point as the riders rounded the next curve and missed Mariner falling to earth. The now-tarnished flier radioed to Dormouse, "You keep going!" He changed the subject as he shot back into the air. "I tried to ask nicely."

"Company," Dormouse responded. He pulled off the road and dismounted. "I suppose we should help him. Vigilant isn’t much fun on a good day."

"How do you stop this thing?" Beacon asked with subdued panic.

"Cindy," Image drew her attention, "get ready with your force field. Now!" Beacon surrounded herself with her field as the now-riderless motorbike careened off the road and exploded when its fuel tank ruptured.

"Are you nuts?" Beacon called out as she scrambled to her feet to meet Dormouse.

Through the helmet speaker, he countered, "You did want to stop, didn’t you?"

"Ah, nuts," Dormouse complained, "Vigilant’s got an accomplice." In the distance, Dormouse made out three flying forms.

Mariner’s voice crackled through the static on the helmets the others wore. "Lost it,"

Transwarp vroomed her motorbike sharp right through the field and set herself on course to meet Mariner and his two assailants.

Beacon ran forward and screamed, "Are you crazy?"

"Like a fox," Dormouse countered as he caught onto what Zenia Sinclair was doing.

One flier broke from the staggered Mariner and met Zenia on her motorbike head on. All the teleporter saw was a woman-shaped missile wearing a blue and yellow helmet covering the upper half of her face. "Want to play chicken, eh?" Zenia gritted her teeth.

"Zenia, this may not be a good idea."

"Trust me." The armored woman bore toward Zenia on the motorbike. "Jump NOW!"

The armored woman reached for the windshield, Zenia teleported, and Image’s electrical form shot into the woman’s face. The armored woman was driven into the ground.

"Lauren!" The cry came from the armored man holding Mariner aloft.

As Zenia reappeared on the motorbike seat and kept the bike from spilling over, Beacon and Dormouse rushed to the fallen assailant. Image appeared and explained, "Don’t get too close. I froze the outer layer of the armor with a sudden burst. Zenia’s idea."

"The girl’s got spunk," Dormouse chagrined.

"The woman’s got trouble bearing down on her," Beacon pointed out as Mariner plummeted and his attacker bore down on Zenia as she swerved to avoid the steep drop ahead.

"Mariner could meet the ground head first," Image shouted. "I could jumpstart him!"

"Sergey, wait," Beacon called out before Dormouse tugged on her with his bare hands.

"What," a voice came from the ground in front of them, "happened? I can’t move."

"Easy, Lauren," her male companion in red armor called out. He reached to a power pack on Lauren’s hip and explained, "I’m purging your onboard system . . . now!"

Dormouse froze. "It’s Vigilant."

Vigilant turned on Dormouse and Beacon with his right arm cannon pointed at them. "You’re under arrest."

"What’s the charge?"

"The charges are," Vigilant began as Lauren struggled to her feet, "trespassing onto sovereign Quebec soil without a passport, injuring an officer of the law, and aiding and abetting a known fugitive." Vigilant let his animus creep in as he read the list. "Cindy St. Gerard Gallatin, a.k.a. Ricochet, a.k.a. Beacon, you’ll come quietly." Vigilant’s attention was drawn by a change in orders received through his helmet. When he seemed to look away, Beacon and Dormouse made their move. It was cut short by a sonic cannon burst.