Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (this book - Book 3)
Mark Devlin looked out the window of the plane and watched the ground grow smaller. He turned his attention back to the two passengers seated around the table with him. Socrates Chappelle, the Senator from Colorado, towered over him in the seat to his left. Across from them sat Amal Nassar, a Middle Eastern man with boyish features offset by a stern, almost angry visage. He almost seemed to be too young for the expensive suit he wore.
"You are taking quite the risk coming into our country, Amal," Devlin said. "It was unnecessary."
"My employer has sent me to see what he is buying," Nassar said, with barely an accent but with a slow, measured tone, as if he were considering each word. "I trust we won't run into any difficulty. The customs officer will barely spend a moment on the plane, in light of the esteemed senator's presence."
That's why Devlin had brought Chappelle with him. The United States required all travelers — even those on private jets — to go through customs upon entering the country. Passengers on a plane such as Devlin's, though, avoided the regular customs process. A customs officer would come to the plane, and, with Senator Chappelle present, would make only a quick visit. The officer would never notice Nassar, who Devlin would hide away.
"I think you can count on that," Chappelle said with his trademark friendly smile.
"Let's get down to business then," Devlin said. "Here is the manifest of what we have ready."
Devlin slid a thin pile of papers across the table to Nassar, who studied them for a few moments.
"I trust you won't be offended," Nassar said. "But my employer has instructed me to send the agreement back for review. Does your plane have an Internet connection?"
"Now that we're airborne, it should have kicked in," Devlin replied as he glanced at his iPad. "My device just connected, so you should be good. It's a simple password, since the signal doesn't leave this plane — KBR2019."
"Thank you," Nassar said with a nod, and started to scan the documents with his phone.
As he waited, Devlin glanced down at his tablet to review the messages he had missed while without a connection. He stiffened for a moment, before a hint of a smile crept across his face.
An encrypted message from Valik, his lead scientist, contained only a photograph. The image depicted Sapphire Angel, her wrists and neck chained as she looked toward the camera. Mantis! Devlin's hired gun had done it. He had ensnared the invincible superheroine.
Devlin couldn't take his eyes off the photograph. He would never have thought an expression could say so much, but hers did. She appeared desperate and dazed. Confused. Forlorn. Shellshocked. Possibly even afraid.
Of course the heroine would feel all those emotions. At least according to the stories, she was unbeatable. She pranced around in her radiant costume as the world cast adulation her way, and she racked up success after success. Yet here she was, defeated. Bound and helpless. This had to be a first for her, and she certainly would have difficulty processing the turn of her events. It was a startling fall from grace, and she had Devlin to thank for it.
"Excuse me," Devlin said, unbuckling his seat belt and rising from his seat. He walked to the back of the seating area and dialed Valik's number, his fingers trembling with excitement.
"You received my message?" Valik asked as he answered.
"Yes!" Devlin hissed, trying to keep his voice quiet.
"Mantis got her!" Valik exclaimed.
"I can see that! And I can hardly believe it!"
"I didn't think it would be possible, either," Valik continued. "But your boy Mantis came through. She's a bit... stunned at the turn of events. We've taken her costume and started testing it, and had her strapped down without it, to run experiments on her body. We haven't gotten all the results back, and have barely started processing the data we do have, so it's too early to tell if we'll learn anything."
"That's still fantastic news," Devlin said, struggling to keep his voice calm. When he had first asked Mantis to capture the legendary superheroine, he had harbored doubts over the man's chances for success. Now Devlin's mind raced with possibilities, but he couldn't appear too excited in front of his guests. "I'd love to hear the details about how Mantis abducted her, but it will need to wait. Any idea how long it will take to finish your tests and get through all the data?"
"I can't be certain. These sorts of things are unpredictable. Our scientists are analyzing some of the data now, including every blood test imaginable, a brain scan, an EKG, a bone density scan — well, you name it and we did it. And the tests of her costume and other items will help me determine if they explain anything. We have her naked in the lab's cage right now."
"Wow," Devlin murmured, shaking his head in disbelief, and trying to picture the superheroine, helpless and captive in the cage in his facility. He almost wished he had stayed behind to see it. "Keep going. If things don't pan out, resort to enhanced interrogation."
"I thought you agreed we could stop doing that? You agreed to avoid it with the Stump kid."
"With Sapphire Angel, we need to make an exception. The stakes are too high, and she is in a class of her own, compared to the Stump boy. Well, compared to anyone, really. It goes with the territory of putting on that costume. She knew the risks. Don't question me on this one, Roy."
The line was silent for a moment before Valik replied.
"Very well," he said, hesitation in his voice. "I'll keep up with the testing for a bit, but I'll advise Gregor to be on standby for her."
"Keep me informed," Devlin replied, and ended the call. He paused to collect himself. Holy shit. They had captured Sapphire Angel! When he returned to the table, Nassar and Chappelle were making small talk.
"My employer is reviewing the agreement now," Nassar said, looking up at Devlin. "We need to be sure this won't bring unexpected trouble. We've learned an outsider has been probing you. And not just any outsider. It's Sapphire Angel — the American superheroine everyone is discussing."
Devlin didn't know how Nassar or his employer could have learned of Sapphire Angel's recent visit. They seemed to know what happened with WarTech, yet Devlin knew nothing about them, aside from the name of this young man. Devlin didn't even know the identity of his employer. But it didn't matter now.
"You don't need to worry about her, as we've captured her," he said. He raised his tablet and found the photograph of Sapphire Angel, a shell-shocked look on her face, with a chain around her throat and wrists. He held it up for the other men to see.
"Not long ago we had her strapped to a table in our laboratory, and my scientists were running a battery of tests on her," Devlin continued. "Now she's naked in a cage, without the costume you see in this photograph."
Nassar raised an eyebrow, and Senator Chappelle let out a soft whistle.
"Whoa," the senator murmured.
"How did you do that?" Nassar asked. "I had heard she was unbeatable."
"That's a trade secret," Devlin answered with a wink, although he had no idea how Mantis had captured Sapphire Angel. "All I can say is I have a man who is very skilled, and with our resources, it wasn't much trouble to take her down. What matters is that we'll soon unravel all her secrets, which will enable us to build a formula that might interest your employer, Amal."
Nassar didn't immediately answer. He sat back in his chair with his fingers steepled under his chin and his eyes narrowed.
"One moment, please," he said, and pecked away at the keyboard on his phone. His phone dinged as a response arrived, and he keyed in another message. This process went on, back and forth, for several minutes. Devlin and Chappelle sat in silence until Nassar looked up from his phone with a smile on his face.
"I have been authorized to make a proposition," Nassar said.
"What's that?" Devlin asked.
"Take the price we are paying for this," Nassar said, tapping the papers in front of him, "and quadruple it. That is what we will pay you for Sapphire Angel."
"Sell you Sapphire Angel?" Devlin asked, confused. And then it hit him. Of course Nassar's people would want the famous superheroine. She was the symbol of American might, and she was an affront to their beliefs — a powerful woman dressed in a skimpy costume. Devlin swallowed. He knew Nassar's organization would want to humiliate and destroy her for the entire world to see. Doing so would demoralize America and elevate Nassar's group to untold heights.
The thought of helping the group even more revolted Devlin. And it would mean WarTech wouldn't be able to continue to study her. But the money...
"I think we can arrange that," Devlin said with a smile.
"How could we not take advantage of this opportunity?" Majid Azari asked, rocking back in his desk chair and looking to the window with the magnificent view of the ocean and desert far below. "It's like she's been handed to us on a silver platter."
The man with silver eyes stood across from Azari, shaking his head. "This is not the natural course. As I've said, I must first find our champion, who will defeat the superheroine. This latest development is but a distraction."
"A distraction? They have her, and will turn her over to us! That's more than just a distraction. It's a shortcut to the finish line, giving us the ability to break Sapphire Angel in front of the entire world!"
Azari realized he was now standing, as this rare moment of unbridled excitement got the best of him. He lowered himself back into his seat. The man with silver eyes stared at him and folded his arms across the front of his dark robes, but said nothing.
"Yet you think this is a mistake?" Azari asked.
"I do," the other man answered with a casual shrug. "But I see in your eyes that I won't dissuade you, so do what you must."
Azari stared at the man, his brain churning with questions. Azari couldn't pass this up, could he? And why wasn't the silver-eyed man protesting harder? Was it truly because he sensed he wouldn't convince Azari? Or did he want Azari to fail, which would only make Azari more reliant upon him? It didn't matter. Sapphire Angel, who had foiled them twice, was utterly helpless and almost within their grasp. This was a chance like no other.
"I appreciate your counsel," Azari said. "But within twenty-four hours, Sapphire Angel will be here in chains, soon to have her fate broadcast across the globe."
Other links:
Sapphire Angel, Superheroine (Book 1)
Power Play (Book 2)
Deconstruction (this book - Book 3)
......Oh, dear. Love the Middle Eastern representation with Amal Nassar, Mantis, and Majid Azari---something that I haven’t gotten around to yet in my stories---but still.....oh, dear. So Amal Nassar is Majid Azari’s......”employee”, I take it? Like a representative to chat with Devlin in Azari’s stead? And Devlin saying that he would craft a “formula” for Nassar and (presumably) Azari......are we about to have some kind of “Super Soldier Serum” situation on our hands? Where anyone can get access to Sapphire Angel’s abilities if they can just get their hands on that formula? That sounds.....so dangerous but so awesome at the same time. Or maybe we could call it the “Super Sapphire Serum” instead, for sake of theming. xD
Devlin’s idea to sell Sapphire Angel to Nassar and Azari sounded like it was a spur-of-the-moment, last-minute thing, but I can see why the two Middle Eastern folk would want her. They’re used to perceiving women as being “hidden”, “in the background”, and dressed modestly, not powerful and revealing like Sapphire is. The whole time they were discussing their plan, I was shaking my head and just mumbling “no” over and over. Women CAN be powerful, and nothing should stop them from being as such.....they shouldn’t be held down or restrained by the people around them.
(gasp) Kind of like how Devlin and Valik currently have Sapphire held down and imprisoned! Can’t believe it took me until now to get that connection. Hopefully they’ll all be taught a lesson on this soon enough, but until then, I’ll eagerly wait for that day! Would be so, SO satisfying after everything she’s been through for the last few chapters! The very last sentence where Azari says that Sapphire will have her fate “broadcast to the world”......if she manages to turn it around on them instead and give them a butt-kicking on-camera, proving that females are capable of kicking ass and inspiring the other women viewers in the process.....that’d be epic on so many levels.
Seems like Majid Azari’s getting a little too impatient and hot-headed for his own good; I still think the silver-eyed man is going with the better approach of biding his time. The statement about the silver-eyed man possibly wanting Azari to fail so he’d become more “reliant” on him......I don’t know if that’s implying that Azari will survive his inevitable encounter with Sapphire in the future (if he even has one), but if it is, I wouldn’t be so sure. She’s......ahem, “influenced” a lot of villains to basically kill themselves off. And it would be nice to have only one major threat to worry about rather than two.
Maybe we’ll face Azari soon? Either late in this novel or in the next one? Whenever it is, I bet it’ll be epic! Eager to know how Sapphire gets out of her current situation.....see you again on Monday!