Page 6 of Invincible
“Who are you?”a teenage girl asked, looking at him with her head held high.He wanted to laugh at the attitude that matched the picture he had of her back at his house.“How did you get here?What do you want?”Good, she would need that attitude to survive.It’s the same courage his wife had shown the first time he found her.
“My name is Memphis Prescott.I was sent to find you, all of you.Can you tell me anything about how you got here or where you’re heading?”
The slim girl looked him over from head to toe before passing a hand through him.
“Figures.Help finally shows up, and it’s a hallucination.”
Memphis had to chuckle this time.
“Not exactly.I have a weird gift for finding people, but I’m always a hologram.It’s complicated,” he answered her, avoiding her hand the next time she tried to swipe through him.“That really freaks me out a little,” he said.
She cocked her head at him.
“Then can you just beam us out of here?”she asked.
There was a mumbled agreement from the other girls.He was impressed at how calm they were.Most people he found in similar circumstances had lunged at him hysterically, begging for him to take them away.
“No, but then this isn’tStar Trek.”His eyebrows raised in surprise when she just rolled her eyes at him.This was one tough girl.“Can you tell me anything about where you’re going or about this truck to tell the people looking for y’all?Anything would help.”He waited as they studied him.No one spoke up.
“Anything?”he finally asked, turning to Mia.The heat in the trailer had made her eyes sink slightly into her face, but looking around, he could see plenty of water bottles.There was also a box of protein bars, maybe not the best meal, but they would keep them alive.
“I heard them say something about the Texas coast when they locked us in this container.I think they are sending us somewhere from there.On a ship maybe.I don’t know, but the trailer looks like those containers you see on ships,” she answered.
“I overheard a phone conversation, they said something about a ship leaving Houston, but they walked away before I got any more,” another one of the girls added.
“Good, that gives us a place to start.Anyone know how long you’ve been traveling?”
“Maybe a day?”Mia said.She slumped against the side of the trailer.“I really fucked up this time, didn’t I?”
“No, you’re allowed to do something stupid on occasion.Lord knows I did at your age.It doesn’t mean you deserve this,” Memphis said, looking around at the cramped quarters.“I need y’all to stay strong until we can find you.Can you do that?”
He watched as Mia nodded once, a tear sliding down her face before she angrily swiped at it.“I’ll see you again, okay?Don’t give up hope in us.”Memphis slid into the dark corner before he faded away to more gasps.
The sooner he could return to Knox, the sooner they could start planning how to find them.
Memphis returned with a gasp.Well, women gasp, he liked to think of it as a manly intake of breath.
Before he could really even clear his vision, a bottle of water was thrust into his hand with the order of “drink” growled at him.His brother always has such a way about him but then Knox had seen firsthand what happened when Memphis phased away.
It felt unnaturally warm in the living room and he wondered for a moment if it was residual from being inside the trailer.
“Is that a fire in the fireplace?”he asked, looking at the fire blazing in the middle of the summer.
“Knox got fidgety, so he started throwing firebombs.At least I got them directed at the fireplace,” Thayer answered him with a shrug.
Memphis glared at him.One of those fireballs had already burned down Memphis’s first house.Technically, one had burned down two of the houses Memphis had lived in.Sure, Knox was saving his life at the time, but seriously?He liked this house.
“Did you find her?”Knox asked, tossing a small fireball at Memphis.
“Yes,” Memphis answered, patting his chest where the fire had landed.He had gotten to know his newfound half brother rather well over the last year, even asking him to serve as best man at his wedding.
“I think she’s behind a false wall in one of those containers you see on ships.They are being hauled somewhere on a trailer.She thought she heard something about the Texas coast.One of the girls said she overheard it was Houston.”
He took another swig of the water as Knox studied the fire in concentration.
“Agent Tanaka thought they were being moved to somewhere along the Houston shipping channel before leaving again.He couldn’t really put it all together but he thought it was the most likely scenario.How did she look?”Knox asked.
“Not bad, considering.She’s pretty tough.”Memphis watched Knox pace into the kitchen as he pulled out his phone.Dialing the agent, he filled him in on everything they had so far, including the assessment of how Mia was holding up.
