“None here.” She gasped as her own power returned to her in a storm surge. Her hand clenched on his, her breath hitched. When it was over, she found she had more power than she’d possessed before Aden initiated the transfer. It filled her to the brim, until it felt as if her fingertips were overflowing with it.
The mirror, she thought, looking into silver eyes that still surged with echoes of power. The mirror had made her power more, made it brutal. She’d known the mirror’s effect since the day Aden first told her about it, but never had she experienced it to this degree. Power that strained at her skin, her eyes flowing obsidian from the force of it. Aden could literally protect the entire valley, even if he had access to only midlevel Psy. Give him a full squad of lethally powerful Arrows . . . The idea of it was breathtaking.
Not only because of what he, himself, could do, but what he could create in the Arrows themselves. He gave back more than he took, and in so doing, he could create a turbocharged army. He’d be an unstoppable force if not for one simple and inevitable side effect, and even that wasn’t enough to negate the fury of his gift.
“Krychek just told me that he’s found two dead shooters so far,” she said, stifling her fascination with the true depth of his ability for now. “He also has two others contained.”
There was no more time to speak after that. People swarmed Aden, wanting to say thank you, to state their astonishment over his display of power, and to tell him that they’d never had any doubts about the Arrows.
PSYNET BEACON: BREAKING NEWS
Many in the Net have recently questioned the abilities and qualifications of the enigmatic man who leads the Arrow Squad. Rumors reported in the Beacon itself stated that Aden Kai was nothing but a figurehead, a field medic who played the leader so as to protect the squad’s true leadership.
Today’s display has put those rumors and speculations to rest in an incontrovertible fashion: Aden Kai isn’t only powerful, he is a power. There is no longer any doubt as to why he is the leader of the squad, and why he has a seat on the Ruling Coalition.
PSYNET BEACON: LIVE NETSTREAM
I’ve watched the footage captured by nearby security cameras and civilian phones multiple times, and I still can’t believe what I’m watching. Aden Kai’s abilities are unparalleled. Does anyone have a label for his designation?
B. Baker
(New Orleans)
Spectacular!
V. Ting
(Cape Town)
Aden Kai today proved that not only is the squad made up of the elite, it is made up of men and women with designations unknown to the general population, as it should be for a covert squad.
I feel safe in the Net and in our future.
L. Layton
(Cambridge)
I am breaking squad protocol in stating this, but it needs stating: Aden is not our leader because of his abilities.
He is our leader because he understands each and every member of his squad and pushes us to our very best.
He is our leader because he goes first against every threat, no matter the risk.
He is our leader because we know that should we fall in battle, he will not leave us behind. He understands the code of soldiers as the Council never did.
He is our leader because he has never forgotten that he is an Arrow. He may sit on the Ruling Coalition, but he is no politician and he is no Councilor. He is an Arrow and he will always be an Arrow.
A member of the Arrow Squad
(Location Error: Unable to Be Determined)
Chapter 72
KRYCHEK HAD TELEPORTED the captured snipers into a solid concrete bunker for which he’d sent Vasic the teleport visual. Aden’s best friend telepathed him from the valley, a location so distant that Vasic normally wouldn’t have the range. Those experiments we did didn’t prepare me for this.
I only really needed you and Zaira, Aden said, having realized that after the fact. The mirror has matured, needs less fuel.
I don’t think the others will complain. Vasic appeared beside him in a quiet corner of the park, Aden and Zaira having finally extricated themselves from the astonished and grateful civilians. “Cris’s and Axl’s telepathic ranges have also expanded significantly, while Amin just teleported home.”
That was a surprise. Amin’s Tk was a bare 3 on the Gradient—his primary ability was a variant form of telepathy. “Make sure they all monitor their energy levels. I don’t think the rebound effect will be simple tiredness this time.” Always before, anyone he’d drawn from had experienced tiredness after the boost faded, but he’d never drawn this much power or fed such a tremendous amount back.
“No,” Vasic agreed. “We’re all going to crash, but judging from past experiments, we should have three or four hours at least.”