“I sure hope the other two are okay.” No sooner had the words left her mouth than Sierra made a very annoyed face while punching her fist. “And that's just perfect. Now somehow I've turned into one of those whiny, sniveling little girls who keep worrying about stupid shit like people getting hurt. Goddamn it, what have those two done to me? Assuming they don't get themselves killed, I'm gonna slap both of them so hard they'll know better than to make me feel like this again.”

  Beside her, Haley chuckled under her breath. “Yeah, Irelyn has a way of making that a thing. Even while I was gone and refused to go anywhere near Detroit, I always checked the news around there to make sure she was okay. And you saw what I did as soon as she wasn't.”

  After getting that much out, the woman began to walk forward down the ramp. “They'll be fine. Let's just do our part of this whole thing and get them the backup they need. This plan’s gonna be for nothing if we don't move our asses and go let these guys know what's going on.”

  After getting that out, she plucked a gray ski mask from her jacket and held it to the other girl. “Speaking of which, put this on before we get down where the cameras are. I really don't want to be responsible for these people thinking that Cassidy Evans is walking around their place. That hair dye and tanning job is pretty good but it isn't going to fool their facial recognition system.”

  Muttering a curse under her breath while pulling the mask on as instructed, Sierra followed the woman. “I don't get it, shouldn't we already have a welcoming party waiting for us? And why aren't there cameras already pointed at us? What good is their security if they're not paying enough attention to notice when someone uses the back door like this? They should have someone standing here already to find out what we're doing if there's a portal that goes right to their compound. I mean, what, are they all asleep on their fancy private island or something?”

  Haley led her down the ramp to an open circular room with what was very clearly a teleport pad taking up most of it. The raised pad was just large enough for over a dozen people to stand on comfortably, and was surrounded by five tall antennae-like machines with small satellite dishes pointed at it. Yeah, this was definitely the teleporter. That or a very convincing red herring. There was a bright blue phone attached to one of the antennas, and a fancy computer console nearby.

  Pointing to a door on the opposite side of the room, past the teleporter, Haley explained, “There's a living area just through there. A few apartments, basically. They're meant for people to stay in when they don't want to use all the energy it takes to transport all the way across the planet. I drop by now and then when I'm in the area. Sometimes it's to lay low for a day or two until certain problems cool down enough, other times I come with a date. Either way, they're probably not exactly completely freaking out the moment they get a notification that I came in. They'll just be waiting for me to check in and let them know how long I’m actually staying for, and how private the whole thing needs to be. And they do have cameras right inside, but they deactivate when I'm the one coming in to give me a chance to cover up anyone whose identity might be what you'd call sensitive. It's a courtesy, and why the scanner to make sure it’s me coming in is thorough.”

  That made the other girl give a double-take. “Hold on, you bring dates to a lake in the middle of nowhere, then take them through a secret trapdoor on a tiny island and down a ramp to this place? And this actually works out for you? I mean, romantically? Who’re you dating, exactly?”

  Haley gave a short laugh at that and shook her head quickly. “No, not that kind of date. Sorry, that's just what I call it when I have a prisoner that I need to keep out of sight and off the grid for a little bit for one reason or another. I have my own special places for that these days, but once in a while in an emergency, this one comes in handy. I just blindfold them and make sure they have no idea where we are. The only part of this place people like that ever see is the inside of the apartment. They’ve got fake windows in there to make the outside look like any city in the world.”

  After saying that, she moved to the nearby blue phone and plucked it off the hook. There were no buttons or anything. She just held it to her ear and waited for a moment while raising a finger for the other girl to wait for a moment. Sierra watched and listened silently as a voice almost immediately spoke up on the other end. Most people wouldn't have been able to hear that well from where she was standing several feet away, but then again, Biolems weren't most people.

  “Echo,” a man’s voice came, “we down at the farm didn't know you were going to be stopping by this week. And is there a reason your guest isn't blindfolded? You're usually better about that.”

  That was kind of an odd phrase for him to use, which probably meant it was a code. Which was confirmed a second later as Haley replied, “Yeah, yeah, and I at the silo didn't mean to intrude. There's your reply phrase. Anyway, it's not that kind of visit, Neil. Check your exterior cameras already, would you? And by that, I mean all the exterior cameras, including the ones in town.”

  There was a momentary pause while the man on the other end apparently did just that. Sierra could tell when he saw what was going on, because it was immediately followed by a string of enthusiastic and creative cursing. That Neil guy had quite the potty mouth on him, that was for sure. He carried on like that for a few seconds before cutting himself off. Though it was clear he could have continued in that vein for much longer if he hadn't decided that actually dealing with the situation was more important than cursing about it. Maybe he was just multitasking and still cursing silently inside his head. That's what Sierra would have been doing in his shoes. Well, she would have been sending the curses through her connection with Paige so someone else would hear them too. But somehow she doubted that this guy had that sort of option available.

  “Yeah, welcome to the day we've been having,” Haley replied flatly once there was a second of silence for her to speak up. “Your old friends are here, and it's obvious they know there's some sort of backdoor for them to use.” She grimaced, glancing up toward the ceiling. Or rather, toward the lake beyond where that boat was still searching. “They aren’t fooling around. It’s not an expeditionary force, it’s a full-on frontal assault and the whole area is totally locked down. So, call in all the favors you need to and get a big fucking cavalry out here to deal with this, because right now it's just me, Flea from the Detroit Conservators, and a couple… friends without real powers. Meanwhile, these guys brought a medium-sized army with them, and they seem to be about as unlikely to actually take no for an answer as a couple teenaged Mormon missionaries who’ve been told if they get their foot in the door, their crush’ll let them soak.”

  Cupping a hand over the receiver, she glanced toward the other girl and whispered, “Google that, it’s hilarious but also kind of sad.”

  Through the phone connection, Sierra could hear the man already barking orders to other people there. He was telling them to pull in everyone from the security team and to get some sort of special congressman on the phone immediately, no matter what the guy happened to be doing. Then he came back on the line. “Yeah, our cameras in the old village just went down a second ago, but before they did, we could see Battlement heading for your friends. If he’s here, you’re right, they’re not playing and this isn’t just a guess on their part. They know the teleporter’s there, somehow.” That was followed by another string of curses.

  As soon as she processed what he was saying, Sierra pivoted on her heel and started to head back to the ramp. “Wait, you mean that guy in the damn power armor? Well fuck sitting around here waiting then. Let's get back out there and help them deal with the jackass.” She tried yet again to contact Paige to see what was going on over there, but of course it was blocked from inside this damn bunker. Great, now that whole worrying thing was back again, but it was even worse this time. Caring about what happened to other people really was a pain in the ass.

  In the background, she could hear that Neil guy asking how the hell she could possibly have heard what he said from where she was standing if she didn't actually have any powers. Haley just told him she had very good ears before insisting he get those reinforcements out here to lend a hand as soon as possible, and that they were going back out there to go help the others.

  The phone disconnected then before the man's voice came over some sort of intercom instead. “Look, I can't let you guys go out there right now. That boat is right there. If I open the hatch, they'll see it. For all we know, they'll be able to get in as soon as they know where it is. They've been trying to find this place for years. Who knows what sort of tools they have. If they already know there’s a teleportation system here, they'll have come here with ways to compromise it. We have vulnerable families in this place, including little kids. We can't risk having an army come and take over. They just--we can’t risk it.” He sounded regretful, but still very firm in his denial.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Yeah?” Sierra snapped without even thinking about what she was saying. “Well our family is out there right now doing their best to stop these guys, and they need our help. So open the fucking hatch before I decide to compromise your teleporter just so I can come over there and shove your head right up your ass.” She really wasn't in the mood to argue about this. Not when she had been cut off from Paige and had no idea if she and Irelyn were even still alive. In that moment, she didn't care about anything else besides making sure both her sisters were safe. God, both her sisters. How had that happened so quickly? Paige was one thing, even if that was ridiculous enough on its own considering she had been created to kill and replace her. But even in just these few short days, she had already come to care enough about Irelyn to be this pissed off and freaked out by the idea that she could actually be in trouble. It was just too weird, damn it.

  The man on the other end of the intercom started to apologize uselessly once more, but Haley interrupted before he could continue, and before Sierra could tell him what she thought of his apology and excuses. “Look, Neil, you've still got that emergency pantry on the far side of the lake, right? The one with all your food storage in case people get caught out here without the teleporter. Open up those doors. It'll draw their attention, and as soon as they go investigate, the kid and I will take them down before we go help the others. You know me, Neil. I won't let them get in here, I promise. You people have been good to me. But she's right, that's our family out there.” A very brief pause followed before she finished with, “I care about you, but I care about them too. We aren’t just going to leave them alone to face off with Battlement and all his troops.”

  Sierra gave a pointed look toward a mostly-hidden camera in the top corner while putting her hand on the hatch. “You should listen to her, Neil. Either follow her plan and make this easier, or I'll just open this damn thing myself and those guys will know exactly where it is. Your choice.” This was taking too long. With every second that passed, she felt more and more anxious about what was going on with the other two. Yup, worrying about people absolutely sucked. It had every wire in her body all twisted around, damn it. She was practically twitching over here, and it was taking everything she had not to say fuck it, connect to the system, and open the damn door herself. Even if that would expose to the man that she wasn’t a human. If it meant getting out there before something happened to Paige and Irelyn, she’d shout ‘I’m a Biolem’ from the rooftops, and drop fucking pamphlets about just what that meant from a plane. She wasn’t abandoning them.

  Fortunately, it didn’t get that far. After only another second of hesitation (which felt like ten goddamn minutes), Neil agreed and said he was opening the pantry. “Get ready to go, and take this.” A small section of the wall slid aside nearby to reveal what looked like a microchip. “You know what it’s for. I’ll open the hatch as soon as they start heading that way. But Echo… make sure you put them down before they can actually call anything in. We can’t let them get any closer than they already are.”

  There was a lot Sierra wanted to say to that, most of it unhelpful and rather insulting. But she bit her tongue and kept quiet. That was her fear talking, and she wasn’t going to give it any more of a voice than it already had. Paige and Irelyn were fine, they were okay. They could hold out against one fucking guy with a bunch of weapons and fancy armor, damn it. Even if he did have a whole army of mercenaries backing him up, along with who the hell knew what sort of--okay yeah, she was definitely opening the hatch herself if this fucking guy didn’t hurry the hell up now.

  Finally, just when she was about to start threatening him out loud instead of just inside her own head, the hatch slid open. It had barely moved enough for them to squeeze through before she and Haley were both up and out of the hole. Sure enough, that boat was on its way to the other side of the lake, having clearly heard or seen that other hatch opening. They could both hear the guy in charge ordering one of the others to get on the radio and tell ‘Rush’ they had something.

  Before the man by the console could actually do that, Haley grabbed Sierra around the waist while extending her other hand. She Echoed some sort of grappling hook, which hit the boat before yanking the two of them right off the ground to send them both flying that way. The men in the boat were still staring in confusion at the spot on the dash where the invisible (and technically nonexistent) grapple had broken through, when the two girls arrived rather violently. Sierra extended her foot, kicking one of the men right off into the water as she crashed into him. Her hands caught hold of the one by the radio and she slammed his face down into the console.

  Meanwhile, Haley dealt with the other couple of men, making sure they were in no shape to tell anyone anything. The whole process took barely a couple seconds once they were there. Then she sat down, took over the boat controls, and pointed it back to land where a few ATVs were. On the way, she threw an Echoed lasso out to the guy who had been knocked into the water to drag him along with them. They sure as hell weren’t going to leave that sort of loose end behind.

  By the time they reached shore, Sierra had secured each of the men, unconscious or not, and taken away any weapon, tool, or phone they happened to have on them. They could just lay on this boat and rethink their lives. Part of her thought it would be safer to just kill them and be done with it, but Irelyn wouldn’t like that if she found out. Neither would Cassidy or the rest of their team, actually, and they would all probably hear about this. So, tying them up and leaving them for the authorities to find it was. Even if it really would’ve been easier and safer to just end them.

  Taking her own phone out as they ran to the ATVs, Haley opened it up with practiced ease and slid that microchip she’d taken from inside the bunker. As soon as it was in place, she closed up the phone and hit a button before speaking into it. “Yeah, they’re down and we’re on our way.”

  “I saw,” Neil’s voice replied. “We’re contacting Senator Parrs right now. As soon as we give him the location, he’ll send in the cavalry to back you up. You guys just have to hold out a bit longer.”

  Sierra was so focused on getting to the other two that she very nearly missed it. Something tickled the back of her brain, and she went to step on the nearest ATV before pausing with her hand extended toward it. “Wait, who? Hold on, who are they calling for help?”

  “Senator Bernard Parrs,” came the reply before Haley had to say anything. “He’s one of our contacts. And the best choice for calling in an army to face down this one. He has friends in about ten different mercenary groups.”

  “Including this one,” Sierra snapped. “Pa--my sister and I heard them talking about reporting in to someone when we went to warn Flea. We thought they said ‘Mr. Pause.’ but now I’m thinking it was ‘Mr. Parrs.’ He’s in on this.”

  Neil started to deny that, but Haley cursed sharply. “That’s how they got this far, Neil. How else could they have figured out the backdoor was up here? They had to have inside information from someone. Exactly how well do you know this senator? More importantly, how certain are you that you can trust him with your lives?” Even as she said that, both of them were starting up the ATVs to head out, staying just close enough together for Sierra to hear what was said. But whatever the response was, they couldn’t just wait around twiddling their thumbs. Whether the senator ended up really being in on this or not didn’t change the fact that Irelyn and Paige clearly needed help right now.

  Her question was met with a momentary hesitation before the man gave a low yet audible groan and replied, “Certainly not well enough to say you're wrong right on the face of it. I want to say we can trust him, but if you're right, calling him could just be giving him a way to drop more troops right on your head.”

  As they sped through the trees with the engines humming, Haley pointed out, “It could be worse than that. He could use it as an excuse to try to convince you to tell him where your compound is, so he can send reinforcements there, just in case. Something tells me if he’s gone as far as ingratiating himself with you, he’ll have multiple backup plans for this.”

  “Don’t call him,” Sierra snapped. “He’s probably had some Tech-Touched set up a way to trace your connection. Yes, even if it’s supposed to be untraceable. It’s what m--people I know would do. Give you a reason to call for help and then trace that while you’re too distracted to think about it.”

  “Then what precisely would you suggest, Miss?” Neil’s response came flatly. “Do you want us to simply leave you alone out there?”

  Haley grunted. “Send some of your own security through the backdoor. Yes, I know you don’t like to leave your place undefended, especially in a time like this. But if they knew where you were, they wouldn’t be going through all this. And if they manage to secure this area, they’ll find the backdoor anyway. Send your people through to back us up, Neil.”

  “They’re already suited up and on the way to secure the lake,” he assured them. “They’ll do what they can.”

  “Great,” Sierra replied, even as they poured on the power just a little bit more, coaxing every bit of speed they could get out of the machines. “Now excuse us while we hurry the hell up.” Her hand rose, pointing out a trio of incoming silent helicopters that seemed to be heading for the same place they were.

  “Cuz something tells me the others are about to be very outnumbered.”

  Joke Tags: Google That? It’s Hilarious But Also Kind Of Sad And Also NSFW