Traject

By: Mavric Pendragon

 

  The low hum of an aircraft overhead could be heard on the first two floors of Caspar Willowsbi’s house. Inside Natu Yusi and Beniah Laserwolf were squabbling about the state of Willowsbi Enterprise and some of the new rules that were emerging as the team grew.

  “What does it matter where I go and when?” Natu whined. “I have been working for Caspar for years. I deserve a little more freedom than the rest of you, or at least an explanation."

  Beniah leaned back in his chair. He had made the front library his office and a security checkpoint for anyone coming and going through the house. Between himself and Natu was a honey teak desk with papers and folders on it that Behiah was trying to sort into the desk drawers. On the right wall as you entered the room were four monitors that Rorik was trying to finish wiring. The left wall and back wall were large bay windows and the remaining wall had the doorway that led to a minor hallway to the left of the main hall. The stairs leading to the second floor were where these two halls met. 

  For having the entirety of the house to themselves the group typically found themselves in need of assistance, so traveling as a group to get things set up was becoming the norm. Earlier that day they had moved a lot of the furniture out of the room and now Beniah wanted it finished so he could have a workspace. Mavric’s cave of an archive area was the only other workspace in the house, but trying to house a team and working from home made things feel crowded.

  "Caspar asked me to set up security at breakfast." Beniah reminded Natu, "Don't you remember that?"

  Natu begrudgingly nodded.

  "If I'm supposed to set up security then I need to know who is and is not allowed on the property. If you keep snooping about then I have no choice but to investigate who you are meeting with on the property." Beniah informed, leaning one elbow on his desk.

  "Ah" Rorik muttered, as he began unplugging and replugging wire into the final monitor. "Why is this one upside down?"

  Beniah got up and tapped Rorik on the shoulder.

  "Let me see that?" He asked. "Natu, why are you coming to me about Caspar’s order? If it's that big of a deal to you why don't you go directly to him? As you pointed out you have worked with him for years."

  Finishing setting up the monitors Beniah handed Rorik a remote and sat back at his desk. He was surprised by Natu’s silence, but he was glad he could get some.

  “Cat got your tongue?” Beniah teased.

  Natu did not find it funny. Getting up he pushed his chair in and walked towards the door.

  “What I do in my spare time is of no concern to you.” He huffed.

  “Only if Caspar says so.” Beniah shouted, rising from his chair and checking out the now functioning video monitoring equipment. 

    Natu left in a huff to find Caspar. He did not like having to take orders from people in general, nevermind those he barely knew. There were a lot of new changes going on in a very short amount of time and it was wearing on him. He had gone to get Rorik and Phoebe and now the group had grown from four to five, with a potential sixth on the way. On top of all this there were a dozen trucks outside and a crew assembling the house next door who had set up temporary quarters that did not seem to be under Beniah’s growing watchful eye, so why was he?

  Once Natu was out of the room Rorik and Beniah were able to finish programming the cameras to view eight different locations, two per each monitor. They had the four sides of the house, the end of the driveway, Rorik’s soon to be house, a potential next building location, and where the Cessna took off from. As they were observing each of the cameras they watched as a Boeing C17 Globemaster III came into view.

  “It looks like we have company.” Beniah smirked, glad the camera’s were working, “Shall we go give our visitors a welcome?”

  “After you.” Rorik said, gesturing towards the door.

  The two men made their way to the plane. The cameras were not even up for ten minutes and already they had a situation on their hands. Hopping in Beniah’s SUV they made their way to the landing strip. Drawing closer they saw the plain open and a jeep Gladiator rolled out of the back. Beniah turned his SUV to block the road and he and Roric went behind it for protection. Neither of them recognized the plane or the vehicle that emerged. Not really ready for trouble yet they wondered what was going on.

  The jeep backed up off the plain and turned towards the house. The windows were tinted and no one had informed them of any new arrivals. The jeep parked and the back passenger door opened. Beniah reached for his batton. He was pensive, trying to prepare for whatever came out. He felt like he had the disadvantage and wondered where Natu was. Their group was already small. If there were four or five people in the jeep and more in the plane they would be overwhelmed. 

  “Rorik, who knows of our location?” Beniah cautiously asked.

  “Caspar, Phoebe, Mavric, Natu, you and I, by name.” Rorik began, “Others do as well, but they all work for Caspar.”

  The door to the jeep closed, but no one came into view.

  “Who goes there?” Beniah shouted.

  “Relax Beniah,” Phoebe called, coming into view. “We’re home.”

  Rorik and Beniah relaxed as Phoebe approached their SUV.

  “Come on!” She shouted, raising her right hand and signaling for the jeep to follow. “Hop in. We have a crew to organize back at the house.” She pronounced. “Caspar should be waiting.”

  Beniah and Rorik got in the SUV and made their way back to the house.

  “Who’s in the car?” Beniah asked.

  “Mavric, Cole Ferrus, and Nadia Aberg.” Phoebe informed.

  “Who’s the one you went to get?” Rorik asked.

  “That would be Cole.” Phoebe began, “Didn’t Caspar tell you we would be coming back with him today?”

  “We’ve been busy getting the area more secured.” Beniah explained, “We haven’t asked many questions apart from our active task.”

  “Then let me explain briefly before we get back.” Phoebe offered, “Mavric is in charge of archives, Cole is your security assistant Beniah, and Nadia is the pilot that took Mavric and I out to South Dekoda and back.”

  The crew pulled up to the house and everyone got out. No real greetings were given until everyone was inside. Filing into the dining room Rorik went to find Caspar as the others each took a seat. No one wanted to talk until Caspar came in with Natu and Rorik in tow.

  “Welcome to Willowsbi Enterprises Cole.” He said, as he entered the room extending his right hand.

  “Caspar Willowsbi.” Cole began, folding his arms. “I am here as a prisoner of war, not a willing guest. My options and accommodations have deteriorated the longer I waited, and before my life was no longer an option for your endeavor I would like an explanation. Also, when did you begin to stoop so low as to send others to do your dirty work?”

  Caspar recoiled his hand. He had not thought about people joining his organization as imprisonment. To him it was an honor and opportunity to use one’s abilities in such a way as to develop a reversal of the stigmatism all potenthros had and the dangers they all now faced. Taking a seat he motioned for the others to do the same.

  “What ails you, Mister Ferrus?” Caspar asked, folding his hands and placing them on the table. “I’m all ears.”

  Cole was confused. Cautiously taking a seat he made sure to sit closest to the front door.

  “I asked you a question, sir.” Cole began.

  “If that is your main concern at the moment then I will answer. If not, then please voice your concern.” Caspar began, “As you know, I already approached you twice on the matter of aiding in making this place a safer place for all who work here. Twice you turned me down and I assume by the fact that you could identify Miss Aberg that you would be able to find me once I put down roots. Because of this and your gifting, I saw you as both a powerful ally, and a looming threat. This place would be safer with you, and in terrible danger against you. That said, I felt it unnecessary to come for you a third time, so I sent Miss Hildegard and Mister Pendragon to liaison on my behalf informing Miss Hildegard that you were a tentative threat and that this mission may not end in a success. Then I feared for them as they went out and have been zealously devoted to a positive outcome of your arrival while still in fear and dread for the worst. There are too few Potenthros in the world. I do not want to see any of them stray from their full potential.”

  “So you want us all here as a bunch of freaks to do your parlor tricks.” Cole challenged.

  “If that is what you want your potential to become.” Caspar began, “I will make this simple for you Cole. I will give you free reign within my sparse guidelines and defend you however I have to, or I will uproot my entire team and start over again so that you never hear from us again, nor will you be able to lay a finger on any of my team.”

  “I hear you sir, but from what I’ve seen of your team, you would have a very hard time taking on more than one opponent.” Cole pointed out.

  “I will take that into consideration moving forward.” Caspar calmly replied. “Mavric, Phoebe, what are your thoughts on the matter?”

  “If we had some sort of briefing before going out that would be helpful.” Phoebe added, “There was a predicament that ensued as we first encountered Cole that could have been handled much better should certain information have been disclosed to us before we left. Also, Nadia had us get on two different planes which made things confusing for the rest of us who stayed behind.”

  “I can work on compiling data on our next recrite before anyone else goes out.” Mavric volunteered, eager to get back to his archives.

  “Ok, what will the rest of you all be doing?” Caspar asked, “We have a lot to do, so if you are not sure just ask me.”

  “What are our jobs?” Natu blurted, “And is there any structure to this rapidly growing group?”

  His question came across as rude, but Caspar could see where he was going. He had asked it before and Caspar told him he would explain things later, and it looked like Natu would not try and figure it out on his own.

  “What is the problem, Natu, where we need to have things so well defined?” Caspar asked, giving him a voice in the matter before passing judgment.

  “Can Beniah order me around?” Natu asked.

  “If it is a matter of security.” Caspar replied.

  “So he can just demand to know my whereabouts at all times?” Natu complained, “What about my personal privacy?”

  “You have privacy in your room.” Caspar informed. “Do we all need to take a field trip and see where it is?”

  “Why only my room?” Natu questioned. “I have been working for you for years and have never…”

  Caspar cut him off before he went on a rant that he would look back on and regret. Natu was his to protect as much as the rest of the team.

  “Before you finish that sentence by putting your foot in your mouth, Natu, I have a question for you.” Caspar was gentle, but firm in his approach.  “Who did I entrust to get this group off the ground?”

  “Me.” Natu huffed.

  “And how did I ask you to do so?” Caspar asked.

  “By delivering a letter to Rorik.” Natu coldly replied.

  “Wrong.” Caspar corrected. “How did I ask you to start this group?”

  “By delivering a letter to Rorik.” Natu repeated.

  “No, I entrusted you with more than that.” Caspar growled, “I entrusted you with so much more than that. Mavric, go retrieve the file on project penpal.”

  Mavric got up without a word and went down into the archives. He was not gone long before he returned with a plain manilla folder. Handing it to Caspar he went back to his seat.

  “Do you remember this folder Natu?” Caspar inquired.

  Natu bit his lower lip. He was doomed if he answered and doomed if he did not. That folder was supposed to be in his room inside an inner compartment of his desk. The access point is covered by a dark blue Tiffany lamp. How did Caspar have it? Caspar waited a few seconds before he leaned back and opened it. There were dozens of pages all of which were black except for one word in the upper lefthand corner. Waiting for the rest of the page to fill in he read the first word on the first page.

  “It reads,” Caspar began,

  “The start of Project Penpal is to begin with not one, but two handwritten letters to my dear friend and his daughter. Each of them is to report back to me if they are going to join in this endeavor. Also to be sent out are two other letters one to follow up in the West and one to initiate communication in the East. These two are to help secure my enterprise and to test my assistant in his ability to carry out more responsibility.”

  “Does any of this sound familiar to you, Natu?” Caspar asked, tipping down the page slightly.

  Natu folded his arms and did not answer.

  “You pout like my grandchildren.” Capar commented, closing the file and handing it to Mavric. “There is more to that file than what I read, but I keep adding notes to it as more letters go out and more Potenthros come in. If you talk amongst yourselves you should learn a great deal of what I have written there. Does anyone, besides Natu, have anything else they would like to contribute?”

  There was a momentary pause before Rorik spoke up.

  “How long is construction going to take?” He asked. “The house is great and all, but if we add more than one or two more people we will be on top of each other except for going out, or is that how you intend to grow the team?”

  “Construction for your house is underway.” Caspar replied, “If however, it is not up to your expectations, I do know of another Potenthros who could assist in the work. I just need a team to head out to Chicago, Illinois.”

  Caspar was great at not being the one to blame and the others were starting to wonder how much he actually did for them. Nadia knew going that far meant that she was on the job for transport and Mavric whipped out a notebook to jot down whatever the rest of the team needed to know about their next Potenthros.

  “I need two of you to go get this next team member.” Caspar put forth, “If not I will assign you.”

  “I’ll go.” Natu huffed.

  “So will I.” Cole volunteered.

  “Cole, you haven’t even settled in yet.” Phoebe pointed out.

  “Get a good night’s sleep and worry about what is going on here.” Cole began, “Maybe the next time you go out you won’t be so fixed on coming back home right away.”

  “All right, now we have our next team to go out.” Caspar began, “Natu, Cole, meet me in my study in an hour for the first official briefing for a mission for this group. Mavric, prepare a report to have on my desk before that. Beniah and Naida, prepare an aircraft for departure. Rorik, Phoebe, a word with you two in my study once we disperse."

  The team agreed and spread out. Mavric vanished into the archives. Natu went to his room and made a phone call. Beniah and Nadia headed outside to get an aircraft ready. Cole was shown his room by Caspar before the meeting started in the study. Caspar, Rorik and Phoebe then gathered behind closed doors.

  "Thank you for joining me here." Caspar began, "I have been over to your house while Phoebe and Mavric were away and I have some questions about modifications that I think the house needs. First, is the unusual request to install a tunnel system from Mavric’s archives to the basement of your house to give you guys privacy, but at the same time equipping us as an organization to develop an underground segment of our operation. It will mostly be used for supplies to start, and if it changes your input is required before it changes."

  "OK, what else?" Rorik asked.

  "I would like to add more rooms to your house for you to be able to house some of the team until living quarters are established. Who and where will be up to you. Also I would like to add a rooftop terrace and a glass room on the back of the house. They are not original work so I wanted to run them by you."

  Phoebe drew her hands up to her chin and leaned on them. She was concerned and her face displayed it clearly.

  "How will the tunnel be secured?" She asked.

  "For now it will be by deadbolt and key like the doors, but I am looking into higher security options. Only you two and your tenants will have a copy of the key." Caspar assured.

  “And when will this project be completed?” She inquired.

  Caspar leaned back in his chair. He assumed the question would come up, but he didn’t yet have an answer for her.

  “I am not sure.” He replied. “I was expecting Cole to stay behind to help with the tunnel and I am waiting on Mister Silver to join the team to finish securing the ends. This would be the fastest route, but with Cole leaving to go fetch Mister Silver I am not sure how quickly we will complete the project. Work will begin after they leave if you are interested in assisting?”

  Rorik and Phoebe agreed. Getting their house finished soon would be nice and it would give them something to do while Natua and Cole were away. 

  “Great.” Caspar began, “I will inform the work crew foreman of your ability to make any other decisions on this project as well. From what I gathered they are finished with the basement digging except for the tunnel and are getting ready to pour in the concrete this afternoon.” 

  “Then we’ll take care of the tunnel if that is ok with you so they can pour it in at the same time.” Rorik offered.

  “Just let Mavric know what you are doing.” Caspar requested. “He will most likely take up solace in his archives for the next couple of days.”

  Rorik and Phoebe agreed, then the two of them left Caspar’s office and passed Mavric on his way in. They informed him of their plan and he requested to meet them in the archives to discuss where the door would go. Then they parted ways as Rorik and Phoebe went to check out the progress of their house and Mavric gave his report to Caspar.

  “Here is the report you asked for sir.” Mavric said, placing the folder on the desk in front of Caspar and backing up standing in the military “at ease” position. 

  Caspar took the folder and raised it up slightly. He knew he would get a report from Mavric he just didn’t think the report would be this professional.

  “Everything you need and asked for is in there sir.” Mavric explained.

  “Well done.” Caspar praised. “This will be most helpful. Now, I assumed you spoke with Rorik and Phoebe on their way out. Can you please go assist them as their work directly affects you?”

  “Yes sir.” Mavric replied.

  “Oh, and Mavric I need you to check Natu’s room when he is gone for the real file you brought me.” Caspar added as Mavric was ready to leave.

  “I already spoke to Beniah on the matter.” Mavric assured. “No one else will know that I was in there.”

  Caspar nodded in agreement. He wanted a team that would stand by each other, but when theft was involved he wanted proof before making accusations. This was his life’s work and he didn’t want it to go to waste, but he wanted to take his time getting this team together to do things right. Tension was already high as there was no clear plan or objective given to the group, but Caspar was waiting to tell them until he was ready to establish the next phase of the project, but he needed a few more people on the team to make it run smoothly.

  Waiting in his study he read over the well written typed up bio on Rocky Silver until Natu and Cole came in. Finally things were beginning to feel like a true operation.

  “Where are we going sir?” Natu asked.

  “Our next letter is going to a man named Rocky Silver. He is in the City of Chicago working on rebuilding the large building in that area. He is a foreman out there so you will need to be succinct in your invitation and he may or may not join you right away. Nadia will bring you there by air once we are done with this meeting. Any questions?” Caspar informed.

  “Is Nadia staying with us or is she disappearing like usual?” Cole scoffed.

  “She will disappear as you say.” Caspar informed. “I need her to help, but by not having powers she puts herself at a lot of risk associating with you. Once the group is better established she might stay with you, but until then she needs to keep herself safe. Don’t worry she won’t leave you behind.”

  “Aw. Is Cole upset that his girlfriend won’t be with us the whole time?” Natu teased.

  Cole grabbed Natu by the throat and began to pick him up.

  “This will be a short job for me to drop you limp on Caspar’s desk before going to get Rocky to replace you.” Cole threatened, “Stop acting like a small child.”

  His words were cold, but Natu got the message immediately.

  “Cole, put him down.” Caspar ordered.

  Reluctantly Cole obeyed.

  “Do you always defend this worthless excuse for a Potenthros?” Cole scoffed, swiping the file from Caspar. “If he can’t man up, I’ll take the bookworm instead, at least he has some value.”

  Caspar shook his head. He wanted to stand up for Natu, but if Natu didn’t start standing up for himself or growing up then he would have a hard time working with the team. 

  “I’m not worthless.” Natu coughed.

  “Then quit the childish remarks and grow up.” Cole ordered. “Here read over this and meet me over by Nadia’s aircraft.”

  Cole shoved Mavric’s info folder into Natu’s chest, almost knocking himself down.

  “And don’t build yourself up any higher than you are, or you will be shoved back into your place.” He huffed, giving Caspar a farewell salute on his way out.

  “Why did you let him do that to me?” Natu wheezed. “After all I’ve done for you.”

  “What have you done that earns you the right to be so ill mannered?” Caspar asked.

  Natu felt judged and helpless. He thought that after working with Caspar longer than anyone else he would have seniority over the others. He had been riding on this since Rorik and Phoebe arrived, but now he had to prove himself, not only to the group but to himself once more.

  “I just thought that longevity with the group would amount to something.” Natu sighed.

  “We are at the dawning of a new era where we can provide a safe place for Potenthros and you are fixated on seniority.” Caspar replied, shaking his head. “Natu, first we need a place to be safe, and a team that trusts one another. What makes you think picking on a man who said he would see how things go will impress him to stay and help. Or are you so arrogant that you think you can build this company better without him? I have spent years learning about Potenthros to call each one individually to join me. Are you better than I am at choosing a team?”

  Natu felt sheepish.

  “I’ll go apologize to Cole and see if he still wants me to join him.” Natu mumbled, as he dragged his feet to leave.

  “Natu, I am here to listen, but if there is something bothering you I need to know what it is before I can help.” Caspar offered.

  “Thanks, sir, but I don’t think you can fix this one.” Natu replied and then vanished from sight as he answered an incoming phone call as he went to find Cole. “One second M…”

  That was all Caspar heard of the conversation as Natu wandered further and further away. Who was M? and what was in need of fixing that Caspar could not? These questions taunted Caspar’s mind as he was again left in solitude. Rising from his desk he went to the window and stared into the vast space next to him that he envisioned as a place of refuge for people like M and many others he had yet to have the pleasure of meeting. The Potenthros were to be on the other side past a field to give Rorik and Phoebe some privacy and to set it up so that Phoebe would be stronger than anyone else near her house. He had his team’s best interest in mind, but sometimes he wondered what their needs really were. Leaving his study he found Nadia and Beniah.

  “Are you ready to go Nadia?” He asked.

  “Yes sir,” Nadia chirped. “The Bell 212 is all fueled up and ready to fly. All I need now are my passengers.”

  “Give them a few minutes.” Caspar explained, “They just left my study a few minutes ago. Beniah, if you are done assisting Nadia I have another assignment for you.”

  “Yes sir,” Beniah replied, “See you when you get back, kid.” He said to Nadia as he and Caspar went back to the security checkpoint Beniah made as his office.

  Not long after Beniah and Caspar left her, Nadia found Natu and Cole.

  “So eager to leave already?” She teased Cole.

  Cole smirked, but said nothing.

  “Ready to go to the windy city?” She asked. “This go around we are going by Bell 212.”

  “What’s a Bell 212?” Natu asked.

  “Why a helicopter!” Nadia exclaimed, “How do you not know your makes, models and other specs on aircraft?”
  “I’ve always been a feet on the ground kind of guy that how.” Cole scoffed.

  “Well then this mission will be a doozy for you.” Nadia informed as they walked towards the aircraft. “My instructions are to drop you two off on the 22nd floor of an unfinished build in Chicago.”

  “22nd!” Natu exclaimed, stopping in his tracks and fumbling with the folder Mavric provided.

  Sure enough Nadia was right. The orders were to speak with Rocky on the 22nd floor of a building that was not yet completed. When research was done by Mavric and Caspar it was very, very thorough. Closing the file the team then made their way to the helicopter. Hopping in they flew out the hour and a half to Chicago. 

  The midday sun beat down on them as they landed on the 22nd floor of their targeted building. They had not been there long when a man came climbing up to meet them. He climbed up to them with unbelievable speed that shocked both Natu and Cole.

  “What are we going to do about that?” Cole asked, “I can’t take care of him unless we are on the ground.”

  Natu began to panic. He had been whining and complaining about others having greater powers and now it was his time to show what he could do.”

  Hopping out of the helicopter he began to descend towards the rapidly approaching man. He had nothing to ward him off, but he figured if he could at least get his attention Cole would have time to come up with another plan. Calculating the man’s trajectory he ran along cross boards and lept into some scaffolding that was still prevalent on and around the structure. The man from below grew closer, now Natu could make out wavy blond hair that went down to his eyes and a build that left the guys as skin and bones.

  “What is your secret?” Natu whispered.

  Finding a defensible place to perch Natu waited for who he assumed was Rocky Silver. Heart racing he watched as the man below him effortlessly closed the gap. Clinging to the edge of the scaffolding Natu was ready to move if the man proved to be hostile. He hated the anticipation, but by the looks of it the man below ran out of stairs about five flights ago and was making his way steadily up. Now Natu could see the man more clearly. He looked to be in his late thirties, but he moved like a teenage parkour champion. The gap between them was closed in minutes and the man stopped about ten yards away.

  “What are you doing up here?” He demanded.

  “I am…” Natu lost his train of thought.

  By now Cole had made his way out of the helicopter and was paralyzingly perched twenty feet from the man.

  “We are here on behalf of our employer looking for a man named Rocky Silver.” He replied, “Our orders are to meet him here.”

  “Odd place to meet a couple of odd fellows.” The man replied. “What kind of employer takes his men and drops them by aircraft to talk to someone without even letting their contact know they’re on their way?”

  “That sums up Caspar very well.” Natu scoffed.

  The man rushed Natu and held him by the throat, dangling him from the edge.

  “What does this Caspar fellow want with me?” He demanded leaning forward to watch Natu squirm in terror.

  “He is assembling a team.” Natu quickly squeaked, “And he wants Rocky to be a part of it.”

  The man tossed Natu like a ragdoll onto the next highest level of scaffolding.

  “I’m listening.” He taunted. “What does this Caspar fellow want with me?”

  Natu half unzipped his coat and pulled out the letter from Caspar. Feeling to make sure it was not Phoebe’s letter he pulled out he handed the letter to Rocky.

  “A formal letter, but quite the unusual interview. I’m impressed.” Rocky scoffed, leaning back on the scaffolding as he read it. “So, he wants help on some construction projects and needs a man of my skill to pull it off. Why not just pay for the entire company to come out and build it for him.”

  Rocky folded up the letter and put it back in its envelope.

  “Here you go.” He said, handing the letter and a business card back to Natu. “Set up an appointment with the owner Ivo Ross and he’ll let me know when I am headed your way. Until then, I’m paid to stay right here and have no interest in leaving. I worked my way up in this company and have no interest in leaving now unless I would run this enterprise of his, but it sounds like those positions are already filled. Sorry to send you back empty handed, but this job you are perched on needs to be seen through.”

  Calling for Nadia to drop a ladder, Natu and Cole made their way up. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be a part of the team, just his plans for coming out had a different trajectory. Getting into the helicopter the two men wondered if they had failed their assignment. Caspar had trusted them to come back with Rocky Silver and now they were returning empty handed. As they thought about it though they realized Rocky never said no, he just said he would come with the crew he was a part of which might speed things up in the process of building a better base. Their plan was not a failure, it just had a different trajectory.