Marty asked Finch to put the technician out. They didn’t need him screaming while

they were trying to think about how to get two cylinders of metal and plastic out of

a base full of people who didn’t want them to do that.

“So whose brains do we have in the tanks?,” asked Marty. “Barry’s, or someone

else’s?”

“We’ll have to talk to them,” said Ren. “The controls say there’s some kind of

speaking thing the tanks have been outfitted with so they can be interviewed.”

“Do you know how to turn it on?,” asked Marty. “We have to know what happened,

and if we can reverse this.”

Ren checked the front of the tanks. He pressed switches to turn on the functions they

needed.

“What’s going on?,” said tank one.

“More stupidity to deal with from these idiots,” said tank two.

“It’s Barry and Cortez,” whispered Marty to his three companions. “I can’t believe

it.”

“Cortez vanished before the Hazard Scouts were killed,” said Ren. “It looks like he

was here all that time.”

“Who’s there?,” asked Barry. “Where’s Gilbert?”

“Who’s Gilbert?,” asked Marty.

“He’s the idiot running this place,” said Cortez. “If I had my rig, I would gut him for

his incompetence.”

“Him.” Marty rubbed his face. “He suffered an accident. Do you know where you

are?”

“No,” said Barry.

“No, I do not,” said Cortez. “How is that relevant?”

“The year is 1979,” said Marty. “You have been held in Pinebrook National Forest

for ten years.”

“Ten years!,” said Cortez. “I don’t believe you.”

“What about the rest of the Scouts?” said Barry. “Where are they?”

“The other members of the Scouts except one were killed in the ambush where they

took your brain.” Marty gritted his teeth. This was the kind of news he didn’t want

to be delivering. “You were believed dead. Only a piece of luck revealed that you

were here.”

“Who lived?,” asked Barry.

“Martin Morgan,” said Marty.

“Animal Boy lived?,” said Cortez. “The weakest member lived? I can’t believe that.”

“Shut him off, please,” said Marty. It was hard enough breaking bad news. He didn’t

need to deal with a maniacal brain of top of everything else.

Ren cut off the speaker on tank two.

“We don’t have a lot of time, Barry,” said Marty. “I’m going to break things down as

simply as I can. Then we need to get you out of here.”

“Go ahead,” said Barry. “I can take it.”

“All right.” Marty marshaled his thoughts. “Idaville was a trap. It was set up by

Captain Mercer for Watson Security. Jim, Doug, and Daryl were all killed. It looked

like you had died too. Marty got away and has been drifting along. Recently he met

Ren, an apprentice for Doctor Tanhoubei. They started looking into the ambush so

Ren could graduate and set up his own agency. They tracked Mercer to Pinebrook

National Park. They were captured by Watson’s powered goons and put in cells with

three other powers. The plan was to brainwash the group so they would do what

Watson wanted. Corona and Finch, this is Barry Nicklaus. Barry, this is Corona and

Finch.”

“Hi,” said Corona.

“Honored,” said Finch.

“Pleased to meet you, ladies.” Barry seemed to laugh to himself. “So Watson took me

apart. Why?”

“So he could build a version of your body for himself,” said Marty. “I think he used

you to design things because this place is set up like the Scout headquarters.”

“That explains a lot,” said Barry. “What’s the next move?”

“We get you out of here, figure out how to get you a body, and turn in Watson’s files

to see what the Feds think about all this,” said Marty. “I might take the chance to deal

with Watson and Mercer before we get out of here.”

“What about these powered minions?,” asked Barry. “Where are they?”

“One is asleep, one has been hurt but I don’t know how badly, a third was dropped

through a floor by concentrated fire against a force field, and we don’t know what

happened to the fourth,” said Ren.

“I hurt him,” said Finch.

“We might be four for four then,” said Corona. “Good job, girl.”

Finch nodded at the compliment.

“How mobile are these tanks?,” asked Marty.

“I don’t know,” said Barry. “They don’t let us see anything. I assume you can use

them like wheelchairs.”

“We take them out of here, and use the elevator to get to the motor pool,” said Marty.

“Then we get out of this place and hide out long enough to turn Watson in.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Corona. “I’m for it.”

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“I think we can do it,” said Ren. “We just have to cross that empty corridor and hope

no one sees us.”

“If anyone does, we dump Cortez for them to take back,” said Marty. “Ten years

trapped in the dark doesn’t make up for some of the things he did.”

“I’m good with that,” said Corona. “Let’s get out of here.”

Ren took the Cortez tank. Marty took Barry’s. They started rolling the tanks to the

door. The ladies followed. Finch paused to make sure that Gilbert would sleep until

someone found him. They all paused at the door.

Ren headed for the elevator first. He hit the button and waited on one side. Marty

rolled Barry’s tank to the door and parked it next to Cortez. Finch and Corona took

the other side of the door.

The door opened. More of Mercer’s men stood inside the elevator. They looked at the

foursome and their burdens.

“Going up?,” said a man with corporal stripes on his sleeves.

“Yes, please,” said Ren. He rolled Cortez into the elevator. “We have to get rid of this

waste.”

Marty rolled Barry into the elevator. He parked the tank at the back of the cab. The

ladies squeezed in on either side. The other group noted Corona’s height and muscles.

“I wish you were helping us,” said a private.

“When we get done, I’ll come looking for you,” said Corona. She winked at the

private.

“Oh yeah,” said the private.

“Shut it, Dumphries,” said the corporal. “You want to wind up like Becker? Let’s

have a little decorum.”

“Yes, sir,” said Dumphries. He and Corona exchanged looks and hand gestures until

the elevator door slid open. Dumphries’s squad got off to head toward the wounded

still trying to be evacuated from where Finch had left them. Corona waved at him as

he went.

“Flirt,” said Finch.

“I don’t see anything wrong with having a good time,” said Corona. “He might even

show me a thing, or two.”

“We’re trying to put him in jail,” said Marty. “That’s a conflict of interest.”

“I can put him in jail and give a last night of freedom,” said Corona with a smile.

Marty opened his mouth to object. He closed it.

Finch shook her head as she pressed the close door button. She closed her eyes as she

waited for the elevator to move.

“Are you okay, Finch?,” asked Ren.

She nodded. A small tear escaped the corner of her eye.

The other three looked at each other. Corona reached across and touched the fighter’s

shoulder gently.

“If you need a moment, it’s cool with us,” said Corona. “This has been a set of long

days.”

“Fine,” said Finch. She resumed her stoic mask. She nodded at them. “Ready.”

“Everyone ready?,” asked Marty.

The other three nodded.

“Born ready,” said Barry. “Nice idea. I would never have thought of sneaking

someone out as some kind of waste.”

“I don’t believe that for a minute,” said Marty. “You caught the Three State Man

doing the same thing we’re doing.”

“That was a long time ago,” said Barry.

“Shh,” said Corona. “The doors are opening.”

Corona held the door open as she stepped out in the hall. Finch took the other side.

Marty and Ren rolled their tanks out of the elevator. The soldiers had retreated behind

a makeshift barricade so they could blow the door to the operations center down. The

robot and Mercer were out of sight.

“Hurry,” whispered Marty. He pushed Barry’s tank toward the motor pool as fast as

he dared while trying to avoid drawing attention.

Corona picked up the other tank and picked up the pace. She carried it on her

shoulder as if ready to throw it at the first person who got in their way.

Marty didn’t doubt she would use Cortez and his artificial body as a weapon.

“Motor pool ahead,” said Ren. He rushed to the door.

A loud bang behind them signified Mercer’s men had cut through the big door

keeping them from Cog. The lack of gunshots meant he had escaped from the sealed

room somehow. Marty smiled at that.

He deserved to get away after trying to help them, and inadvertently blocking the

guards from being able to find them for a few crucial moments. That was worth

something despite the mystery man declaring himself a coward and willing to leave

everyone else behind.

“Let’s get a van to carry us out of here without arousing any questions,” said Marty.

“Let’s grab the blue one,” said Corona. “It looks big enough to carry us all.”

“We’re going to put you in the back, Barry,” said Marty. He wheeled the tank toward

the van. “Then all we have to do is drive out of here.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Barry. “I wish I had my body. This is slightly embarrassing

being rolled around like this.”

“The Camp is empty,” said Marty. “Some of your spare parts might still be there. I

didn’t check when we were there earlier.”

“So I can build a replacement,” said Barry. “I’ll really be a brain in a jar then.”

“It can’t be helped,” said Marty. “I’m surprised they kept you alive.”

“Watson wanted weapon designs,” said Barry. “Cortez and I gave him things to

chase, but weren’t practical from our point of views.”

“Technology has marched on since you have been gone,” said Marty. “Computers

have been shrunken for example by the discovery of new types of transistors. Vacuum

tubes are on the way out.”

“I’ll have to do some reading to catch myself up when I get some new eyes,” said

Barry. “I know what you’re thinking. I’ll be a fish out of water. I won’t know my way

around. I’ll have to deal with grief over my friends eventually. I can deal with it.

There’s always hope, and I can do that.”

Marty wiped his face with the back of his hand. This was the Barry that had adopted

him into the Scouts when he didn’t have anywhere else to go.

The alarm went off overhead. The group looked around. They were halfway to the

van. They had to get out of there.

“Ren, get the wheel,” said Marty. “We got to move before they try to lock us down.”

Corona jogged toward the van with Cortez’s holder on her shoulder. Light ran up her

arms as she called on her power.

Finch sped to get the back doors open as Marty raced behind the ladies. He shook his

head at being the slowest one there. He thought he had kept in good shape. He hated

to admit he was wrong about that.

Finch pulled the back doors open for Corona and Marty. Corona slid her burden on

its side to the back of the back seat. Marty lifted Barry up and placed him on the

metal floor. He jumped in and pushed the tank forward. He made sure to brace it so

it wouldn’t fall over if something happened while they were trying to escape.

Marty sent a bird back to the door to keep an eye on anyone coming through the door

as Finch closed the van doors.

Ren started the engine with his tuning fork. He dropped it in gear as Finch climbed

in the passenger seat. He started toward the outside door with eyes on the mirror.

Corona flew in front of the van. Her body burned the air around it. She pointed both

hands at the exit door. The metal ran under the onslaught. A hole appeared as the

substance separated from solid to liquid. It wouldn’t be enough to let the van by.

“Hold on,” said Ren. “I’m going to hypnotize the van.”

“What?,” said Finch.

“What?,” said Barry.

“What?,” said Marty. He paused. His voice sounded like the squeak of a mouse to

him.

Ren touched the dashboard. He murmured something to it as he pressed down on the

gas. He drove into the flowing steel of the door. The van passed through to the other

side of the opening without harm as far as Marty could tell.

“That was pretty good,” said Marty when he remembered to breath again.

“Good,” said Finch. She relaxed in the shotgun seat.

“It really worked,” said Ren. “I didn’t think it would.”

“That’s not something to admit,” said Barry.

Cortez’s tank shook in place as if in anger.

Finch grabbed Ren’s closest ear. She squeezed once before letting go. He groaned

from the pain in his ear.

“You didn’t have to do that,” said Ren. He rubbed his sore ear with his hand.

Corona flew to match up with the driver’s door. She waited for him to roll down his

window.

“Pull over,” said Corona. “I don’t want to fly back to Detroit.”

Ren pulled to a stop. He rubbed his ear as he waited for Corona to climb in the back

seat. He looked in the mirror. He smiled at the absence of pursuit.

“It looks like we got clean away,” he said.

“No,” said Marty. “They’re trying to get their vehicles started so they can chase us.

We have to get out of here as fast as we can.”

“Let’s do that,” said Ren. He shifted gears and put his foot down on the gas.