Forced Betrayal by Robert T. Jeschonek Page B

remains shower down over his comrades--Thunder Perfect Mind and the Jupitarian--Hericane zooms after her next target.
    This time, it's Mogul, but he knows she's coming and kicks into hyperdrive. She chases him all over the auditorium at super-speed, racing through every inch of the place, even vibrating through every obstacle.
    And eventually, she catches him. I see a flare of lightning from the blur of motion, and then Mogul's charred body hurtles to the back of the auditorium.
    The smoking corpse lands in front of Thunder Perfect Mind and the Jupitarian, who jump back when it hits. They gape at the body, then at each other, and then they make a run for it, charging out the double doors into the lobby. They flee just in time; seconds later, the blur of Hericane's unstoppable flight punches through the spot where they were standing.
    That leaves just one more stop. She flies past CEO, who's still out cold, and lands in front of Stalwart.
    "It's almost time," he tells her, looking up at the screen. "The Refraxus is about to open."
    Hericane's eyes never leave his face. "I used to look up to you. You were one of the greats. And the way you spent so many years here, holding the line." She smiles sadly. "I thought you were like a god with the world on your shoulders."
    "More like the man who keeps pushing the same boulder up the hill, only to have it roll down again." Stalwart sighs. "So what are you going to do? Let the boulder fall one last time?"
    Hericane takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Never."
    He frowns. "You'll let me live then? You'll forgive me?"
    Her hands dart out and grasp the sides of his head. With one quick motion, she twists it hard left, facing almost behind him. The sharp crack of his snapping spine seems to echo through the theater.
    "Never," says Hericane as she lets the body fold to the red carpeted floor.
    And then she turns to me.
    "Thank you," she says, "for helping me solve the case."
    "Any time." I know where this is going, of course. She's going to do the only thing she can do. "And thank you..." For what? For sacrificing everything for the good of humanity? "Thank you for asking about my family."
    "No problem." She smiles. "I hope it gets better for you."
    Suddenly, a throbbing hum rises from the stage. Coruscating rays of crimson light erupt from the movie screen, casting both of us in shimmering red radiance.
    "You better get going." Hericane bobs her head toward the doors in the back. "The, uh--you know--is on its way."
    "Sure." My heart is pounding. I don't want to be anywhere near this place when the Refraxus opens again. But I feel like there's something left unsaid.
    I reach for the words, but they won't come. Maybe something left undone is more like it.
    So I throw myself forward and wrap her in my arms. I hug her tight, with everything I've got.
    And she hugs me back. For one precious moment, by the burning red light of another world, we press against each other--cheek to cheek, hip to hip, heart to heart.
    We know what's coming. We know I must leave, and we know she must stay. Because there was only one other hero in the world who could hold the line in this place, and she is his daughter. She's the only one who stands a chance.
    Time seems to stand still. Floating dust motes sparkle in the rippling crimson glow.
    Then, the throbbing hum becomes a thundering boom, and a hot wind gusts from the stage. I hear the screaming of a thousand maniacs, smell the stench of a hundred rotting corpses.
    The portal's open again.
    Hericane pushes me away. "Go! Hurry!"
    "Good luck," I tell her, and then I turn and run.
    And I don't look back.
    Â 
    *****
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    A week later, I get out of my car in St. Ignatius Cemetery. Dressed in black, arms full of flowers, I walk across the flat green lawn toward a gravesite.
    It's the same cemetery where they buried Stalwart, but I'm not here for him. I wasn't invited to the funeral, which happened just yesterday. Seems I'm persona non grata in superhuman