We last read Chapter 70, in which Raven Tristan comes to the aide of Beth and Conner, creating a diversion so they can flee from the men guarding them. They split up, and both flee out into the night. Beth reaches the woods, but before she can transform and become Sapphire Angel, a guard slams into her, sending them both over the edge of a ravine,. Conner loses his pursuers and circles back to the lodge, hoping he can find a way to call someone on the outside for help. Two guards corner him inside, but Raven Tristan surprises and subdues them. Tristan agrees to try to get past Wheldon’s communications block and get word to the outside world, while Conner rushes off toward Wheldon’s tower, hoping he can prevent a nuclear disaster.
This is the second story, so if you want to start from the very beginning, you can jump over to book 1, and begin with the Prologue of Sapphire Angel, Superheroine. Or to start at the beginning of book 2 (this story), click over to the Prologue of Power Play.
Thanks for reading!
The groan next to her awoke Beth. With her head throbbing and her body aching, she lifted her face from the floor of the ravine. How long had she been out? A minute? An hour? Longer? She had no way to know without her phone, which was in her purse, back in the lodge, if Wheldon's men hadn't destroyed it.
As her eyes adjusted to her surroundings, Beth noticed the guard next to her, laying in a thick mix of weeds and grass. He was stirring. A jolt of adrenaline shot through her, and she forgot her headache as she leapt to her feet. They lay at the bottom of a small ravine, rocks and weeds strewn about them, and the canopy of the forest thick above them.
Beth's eyes darted about, settling on a huge boulder a few yards away. She dashed to it, slipped behind it, and raised her fist to the base of her neck. A flash of light surrounded her, and a moment later her evening dress was gone. The blue and white costume of Sapphire Angel hugged her body, the short skirt dancing around her hips.
She took a deep breath, surveying herself. The headache was still there, but had retreated to the depths of her brain. Her body was sore, but that was more an annoyance than anything. She wasn't in peak condition, but was fortunate it wasn't much worse. Twice now she had taken a bad fall without major injury. Wheldon's guards seemed to have a knack for including her in their tumbles. But now it was her turn to take charge.
Sapphire Angel flexed her knees and jumped, leaping over the rock and landing a few feet from the guard. He was on his knees and looked up at her in surprise as she stood over him, hands on her hips.
"Oh, shit," he murmured.
"I got Harper to safety, which is more than I can say for you," she said, before slamming a fist into the side of his head. He slumped to the ground and lay still.
She had to get out of this ravine, and get to the tower. In the darkness, she could only make out shapes above her on the slope. She would be leaping blind if she tried to clear the ravine in a single jump. Sapphire Angel spied the outline of a large tree part way up the incline, and leapt to it, sailing as if shot from a cannon. She landed next to it and reached out to grab it.
The top of the ravine was within sight, and it only took her one more leap to reach it. She spun about after touching down, getting her bearings and noticing more light in one direction. With alarm, she realized the illumination was from the barely noticeable glow of approaching dawn. It might show her the way, but meant Wheldon's plan was coming closer to fruition.
Sapphire Angel ran like she had never run before, reaching the clearing, crossing it, and entering the woods on the far side of the lodge. She continued on at a breakneck speed, any aches and pains almost forgotten. As she sprinted, she spied movement ahead through the trees. At first she thought it might be one of Wheldon's guards, but soon realized it was Conner. He was running fast, but she closed the distance in a blur, coming alongside him. His head whipped in her direction, and shock crossed his face when he saw her.
"Find a way to call for help!" she commanded. "I've got this!"
And then she was gone, increasing her pace and leaving him behind. She slowed when she noticed more movement ahead. Three guards. They were coming right for her, but crept along and followed a pattern as they scanned their surroundings. They hadn't seen her, so she found a wide tree and scurried behind it.
She counted a few seconds before peaking out and identifying a guard holding a radio. She ducked back behind the tree and waited. Closer and closer they came, and she held her breath. She agonized with every passing second, knowing the delay might be crucial. Finally, they closed to ten feet. She heard the hum of the radio and the words "Team two, check in," crackle over it.
"Team two, checking in," the man with the radio replied. "All clear."
Sapphire Angel leapt from cover and in one fluid motion pulled her cylinder from her boot, flicked her wrist, and shot the cable toward the man. She gave a tug as the cable reached him, causing it to whip around his wrist. A split second later a jolt of electricity coursed through him and she jerked him forward, the radio flying from his hand.
The costumed heroine was already moving, leaving her feet and lashing out with kicks at the other two men. Her boots crashed into their faces, flipping them backward. She pivoted to deliver an elbow to the head of the first man, whose eyes turned back in his head as he dropped. Sapphire Angel darted to the two fallen men before they could rise, and landed crushing punches to their faces.
In a matter of seconds Sapphire Angel had taken out one of Wheldon's teams before anyone could make a sound. The heroine hurried between the three men, taking zip ties from her boot and securing them. She took the fallen radio and clipped it to the outside of her boot.
It was time to take a chance and save time, since the patrols probably wouldn't operate too closely together. She sprinted forward through the woods, abandoning caution. Although the trees blocked her view of the tower, it had to be getting close. After sprinting for thirty seconds, she slowed and stopped behind a tree to survey her surroundings.
Not hearing or spotting any danger, she was ready to move out again when the radio clipped to her boot chirped, as a call came through.
"Team two, come in," a voice said.
Not good. Someone was checking in on the disabled team already. They wouldn't be answering, which meant she had to get to the tower as fast as possible. Wheldon would soon realize he had a problem.
Without wasting another moment, Sapphire Angel dashed off at an impossible speed, with trees whizzing past her. She hoped she wasn't too late.
Xavier Wheldon hadn't achieved his position in life by panicking. But he also knew when to worry. When one of his teams stopped responding to radio calls, he knew he had a problem.
There was no way things should have gone wrong. Armed men had guarded Harper and Bennett, and even more men monitored the perimeter of the Pegasus Club. There was another possibility, though. One woman in particular could lay waste to all of his plans. Was she finally here? He needed to eliminate other possibilities.
As he looked across the inside of the tower, Wheldon motioned for Biggins to come to his side. The chief frowned but obliged.
"What is it?" Biggins asked in his country twang.
"Your men are manning the roads up here? They'd see anyone traveling anywhere near here? Such as police?"
"I am the police," Biggins said with a scowl.
"I mean authorities — federal, state, whatever. Your men would know if they were coming?"
Biggins gave Wheldon a huge frown, as if the question offended him. "There's only one road that comes near this place, and there are two roads that intersect with that road. My men have both of them covered. They know to call me if anybody approaches."
"Call your men and see if they've seen anybody," Wheldon ordered.
"I told you, they'll call me—" Biggins started.
"Just do it!" Wheldon snapped.
The rippled flesh on Biggins face turned bright red and he looked like he might explode, but after a brief glare at Wheldon the chief complied.
"Twenty-three, come in," Biggins said into the radio he pulled from his belt.
After a few moments he got a response. "Twenty-three here, over."
"Anything going on out there?" Biggins asked.
"Everything's quiet, Chief."
"Haven't seen anything or anyone?"
"Not a soul."
Biggins turned to Wheldon with a raised eyebrow and an "I told you so" look on his face.
Wheldon muttered a curse, before turning and calling across the room to a guard standing by the door.
"Try to reach Bishop. He wanted to watch things unfold from here, instead of from the lodge. But we're not waiting forever. If he's not here in five minutes, we shut and lock the door."
The guard nodded and left the room.
Wheldon made his way to a table against the far wall. To do so, he had to make his way around a large contraption that looked like a cross between a massive telescope and a missile launcher. It filled most of the room, and was bolted to a platform above the floor, with a nozzle-like appendage extending toward an opening above and to the right of the door.
After reaching the table, Wheldon grabbed the handle of a large suitcase-sized container. He turned toward Rockford, who had been standing a few feet away from Biggins.
"Come with me," he said to Rockford. The bodyguard nodded.
The case was manageable, but not light. Wheldon lugged it to a spot between the door and the table, where a ladder ran up to the ceiling.
"Hoist this up to me when I get near the top, and then follow me up," he told Rockford. Moments later Wheldon was at the top of the ladder, and opened a steel hatch to a platform on top of the tower. Rockford handed him the case.
Wheldon heaved the case out onto the roof, before Rockford pushed him the rest of the way up. Rockford climbed up after him, hoisting himself up without help. Once on the tower platform, Rockford looked down at the case.
"So, you want to risk it?" Rockford asked, although his face looked eager rather than apprehensive. Rockford bent down and unlatched the fasteners on the case. He swung it open, revealing a shoulder-mounted grenade launcher.
"I think we may have to," Wheldon replied. "Someone is headed this way, and could ruin all our plans."
"Care to enlighten me?" the guard asked.
"If I had to guess, it's our blond friend who kicked your ass. Sapphire Angel."
Rockford raised an eyebrow as his face turned red. He looked down and studied the weapon.
"You want me to use that on her?" he asked, pointing to the grenade launcher.
"Yes," Wheldon said with almost a snarl. "If she gets here, silence and safety be damned. She may be bulletproof, but she sure as hell ain't bomb proof. Blow that costumed little bitch to pieces."
Sapphire Angel slowed to a stop and went into a crouch as the tower came into view. From this side, the tower sat in silence. This wasn't the side that mattered, though. The side of the tower that counted was the side facing northeast, facing Edgewood Nuclear Power Plant.
Staying in the woods, Sapphire Angel circled around until she had reached the side facing the nuclear plant, as best she could figure. She found some thick vegetation near the pond, ducking behind it and watching the tower.
At the foot of the stairs winding around the structure, four guards stood watch just inside the fenced-in area. She turned her gaze upward and saw movement near the top of the tower. The movement wasn't taking place at the summit, as she couldn't see the top platform from her angle. But on the level below the platform she saw an open doorway, with light emanating from it, and figures moving inside.
Just above and to the side of the doorway was a smaller opening, not large enough for a person to fit through. If she had to make a wild guess, it was the opening was for the laser. Either the weapon would extend out the opening, or the weapon would fire from within the tower and the beam would shoot through the opening.
The tower seemed taller than she remembered. She studied closer, realizing it was almost as if a section had risen out of the tower, extending its height. The extra height put the tower even higher above the trees to the northeast.
As she continued her examination of the structure, she heard a voice.
"Don't move!"
She had been so intent on examining the tower she hadn't seen four guards approaching her, their weapons drawn as they eyed her through the vegetation. They stood in a semi-circle ahead of her, near the pond and blocking her path to the tower. She gritted her teeth, angry at herself. She had lost the element of surprise in her approach to the tower, for sure.
Rising from her crouch, Sapphire Angel leapt from behind the vegetation and sprinted into their midst at the edge of the pond, preventing them from shooting without risking friendly fire. She moved with a flurry of kicks and punches, darting from one opponent to the other with breathtaking speed. The men, with their hands on their weapons, never stood a chance in melee combat. Within seconds she had landed blows to their heads and torsos, taking them down.
There was no way the fight had gone unnoticed in the tower, though. Sapphire Angel looked up at the entrance near the top and saw a man enter. Mark Bishop. Even from here, she recognized him. He was probably arriving to watch the culmination of their work. Not if she could help it.
The superheroine sprinted a few feet forward and made a springing leap, aiming toward the steps part way up the side of the tower. As she was airborne, Sapphire Angel heard a rumble and a whoosh above her, and looked up just in time to see an object streaking toward her.
She twisted in the air, but it was too close and too fast. An enormous conflagration of light, sound, and force engulfed the superheroine. Pain crushed Sapphire Angel's chest as the concussive effect hit home, and the missile burst into a fireball. A bright light blinded her and the roar of the explosion deafened her. The force hurtled her backward through the air, as the world went from extreme light to darkness.
This is the second story, so if you want to start from the very beginning, you can jump over to book 1, and begin with the Prologue of Sapphire Angel, Superheroine. Or to start at the beginning of book 2 (this story), click over to the Prologue of Power Play.
Thanks for reading!
I appreciate any comments or email.
AIright, Sapphire's here! We were making SUCH good progress before that darned grenade Iauncher got thrown into the mix. And now we have to worry about Rockford, Bishop, AND WheIdon. Guess my suspicions about Rockford not being entireIy out for the count were true.
4 (or 5) chapters to go! Let's hope aII these men are deaIt with by the time this is aII over. Conner's aIso now heading to get heIp on Sapphire's orders.....was Raven going to do anything after freeing Conner? Let's see......