Erica Spencer watched her car lift into the air, suspended between Tracy and Woodrow. Her core tensed as her vehicle wobbled. She was still making payments on the BMW. While she made a decent income as a real estate agent, the flow of money wasn't reliable enough for her to make two car payments. The monthly check from the National Guard didn't hurt, either. Though having signed up for the army of Marius, she would likely lose both of those jobs. The real estate gig would be sorely missed -- she set her own hours and managed to do a good bit of business based on being a reasonably attractive young woman. The Army National Guard . . . well, at some point she expected to be declared AWOL and eventually prosecuted for desertion. By the time that happened, she hoped to be beyond the reach of the law. And hopefully receiving a pay check from Marius.

"Easy!" The exclamation slipped free when the car shivered in the air. Slowly, her students lowered her car until it touched down and Erica let out her held breath. "Take five, guys," she said as she moved to where Srinivas was working on his own car, using the teleotic talent to remove a rust spot. Certain she had no meaningful advice to offer, Erica watched over his shoulder for a count of ten before making an approving noise.

Having the rank of specialist had not prepared Erica for this. Her past experiences leading soldiers had involved being the senior person on work details, instructing privates which section of the floor to mop or which vehicle to perform preventative maintenance checks and services on. Everything had been neat and tidy and regimented. This . . . she was just making it up as she went along. And given the fact that Marius had just taken Ski out on mission, she wasn't entirely sure that her leadership position would be all that temporary. If Ski didn't come back, she was the senior NCO. And if Marius didn't come back . . . what the hell happened then? Disband their outfit? Approach the United States government?

The sound of a car approaching interrupted her ruminations. Erica looked around at the group. Should we hide? No, our cars are lined up in the driveway.

Rounding the final curve of the wooded driveway to come into view past the tree line, a police cruiser slowed to a stop. Visible through the windshield, the cop spoke into a microphone. A moment later, he exited his vehicle and moved forward with bristling body language, one hand resting on the grip of his gun. Srinivas began to slink away, putting distance between himself and the approaching threat.

"Stop right there," the cop's voice boomed. "All of you, get out here. Hands where I can see them."

Erica put her hands in the air as she pushed out her corona to cover the gun in the cop's holster. A little bit of pressure would make it impossible for him to draw. "Uh, hi officer, what's the problem?"

"Is this everyone? Just you four?" The officer's hand tightened on his gun. "I said line up."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Line up," Erica called. Her three subordinates moved over to stand beside her in front of the officer.

Tracy leaned close. "You comfortable doing a brain push on a police man?"

"We're not doing that," Erica said.

"Turn around and put your hands on the car. I'm going to search you for weapons."

Erica raised her voice. "We're not doing that, either."

"We should just fly away," Tracy said.

"Our cars are here and we have nowhere to go." Erica felt the cop attempt to pull his gun. At his failure, he tried to yank harder, but her corona proved stronger than his arm. Marius and Ski had better hurry back, she thought. "Look, officer, we're going to take our cars and leave. You can just pretend there was no one here."

The cop's hand went to the other side of his belt and pulled free a canister of pepper spray. Before he could take a step, Spencer tore the canister from his hand and levitated it to land on the windshield of his vehicle. The officer's eyes went wide. He reached for his radio and she pulled that free from him as well. "Now why don't you stand aside so we can get off this property," Spencer said.

"Damn terrorists! I'm not going to cooperate with you!"

"Brain push?"

"Tracy, no. We're not the bad guys."

"How about a meme blast? It will make him stop talking at least."

"It will also put me out of action," Erica said. "Well . . . I guess it could work. Put his handcuffs on him while he's unaware. I'll assess the situation after you end the meme blast."

The next Erica knew, she was jerking awake on her feet. The officer had been cuffed and was blinking awake himself. He looked down to find his hands bound and his face went white. Erica removed his gun and put it on the windshield next to his pepper spray and radio, then lifted his body with her corona. "Sorry, officer, but I'm going to put you on the roof. I'm sure one of your coworkers will stop by to check on you before too long." The man glared as he flew against his will to the peak of the roof.

"Take everything from the house and load up the cars," Erica said. "Srinivas, can you lead us to Ski's apartment?"

"Yes, very easy."

"Good. Woodrow, can you drive Ski's car? You will probably need to turn the ignition on with your kinetic talent."

Woodrow shook his head emphatically. "I'm not touching his car."

"We can't leave it behind," she said.

"Then you drive it."

Erica sighed. "Fine. Then you need to drive my car."

Woodrow winced. "I . . . I don't know about that. After Eunice died, my sons took the car off of me. It's been seven years since I sat in the driver's seat."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Erica said. "It's got to be easier than flying, right?"

From the roof, the officer began yelling for help. Hurry up, Marius and Ski. I don't want to be in charge a moment longer than necessary.