“Brandon and Scott’s trial?”

  She said, “A few months from now, but the two boys have been expelled by the new principal and are now being home schooled.”

  “Let’s all go, and we’ll see if Ashley wants to go too.”

  She said, “Ashley’s already going, in civilian clothes. She’s kept in touch with Kelly the last few weeks. I’ll let the others know.”

  That was good to know. Anything more than remote and professional support from me would’ve been wrong, despite her needs, though I thought in a couple of years she’d be mature enough to be friends as equals. But her and Ash were around the same age, only two years apart, and having a steady and trustworthy friend and slightly older mentor that had their shit together was exactly what Kelly needed most right now to start on the road to recovery.

  “Anything else?”

  Thea bit her lip sexily, which was a blatantly obvious and extremely tempting invitation to ravish her over my desk. Just in case that wasn’t obvious enough for me, she also arched her back and pushed out her proud double Ds in a very enticing manner.

  What’s a man to do?

  The rain was coming down hard the next day in Pennsylvania, outside of the courthouse in Philadelphia. It was just me, Thea, and Alina, Faith already had superhero commitments for today up in Ottawa, which was more than fine. It was me she knew, I’d just wanted to bring the ladies around so she wouldn’t get any inappropriate feelings in my direction, once she realized we were all together. Women were good at picking things like that up, and my ladies and I were hardly subtle. No PDA, but we tended to stand closely together, and our body language and the way we looked at each other made it obvious to most.

  I had swooped in and saved her twice, and without any distrust remaining toward me along with a slight attraction, I worried she could form an inappropriate emotional attachment with me showing up again as she became a legal adult. A situation better left avoided, especially given the nature of her trauma.

  I don’t mean she was damaged goods, that kind of thinking was disgusting. Just too young for me, and some women became promiscuous as a result of being abused in the past, which was not healthy. She needed to time to finish growing up, and to heal, is all I meant.

  I was in business casual, gray Dockers and a sharp dark blue buttoned shirt with a tie. Thea had dressed me with conjuration, after taking one look at what I’d put on which apparently hadn’t been good enough. I had to admit, I looked a lot better with Thea dressing me, save my super suit of course. My ladies were both in dresses of the business kind, yet that only made them look sophisticatedly sexy, instead of just sexy. Hopefully no one would recognize us, and I thought the chances were high given the press and just about everyone else was staring at Ashley in a sweet light-yellow dress with gray heels.

  Kelly looked good as well, it was the first time I’d seen her dressed as an adult and not in high school wardrobe, or in her cheer uniform. She had on a simple black skirt that ended just above her knees, two-inch-high heeled black shoes, and a creamy white-yellow blouse that was quite professional as well as flattering. Even her hair was up in a tight bun, and she had makeup on that lent her a couple of years older in appearance, and I suspected Ash had a lot to do with her clothing choice of the day.

  Kelly spotted us and waved with a slight smile, which for anyone else might’ve been a grin based on what I could see below the surface. She was extremely happy I was there, and her attraction for me had grown a little in absence, now that she trusted me. So I knew I’d made the right decision in bringing my ladies along, an effort to steer and keep things in a casual friendship level for the future.

  Kelly said, “Thanks for coming.”

  I nodded, “Ash, Kelly, good to see you. Kelly, this is Alina and Thea, my partners.”

  Thea grinned, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

  Kelly smiled, “It’s good to meet you too, thanks for all you did for me. Nice to see you too, Alina. Ash has been telling me about you all, so I feel like I already know you.”

  Thea said, “Master told me to help, but I was more than happy to do it.”

  I looked at Ash in question at Kelly’s comment, who just winked at me unashamedly. It made me wonder just how much she’d shared, because there was a little wicked amusement below the surface of her friendly aplomb.

  Alina said, “It’s nice to meet you too, Kelly. Any plans?”

  Kelly nodded, “I have a few months until the criminal trial, and I can’t really move on until then, you know. From here, the city, I mean. I think if I apply myself, I’ll be able to finish my senior year in that time, then I can think about colleges and getting out of this town, as well as my future career. You know?

  “I think it’s likely I’ll start my career right away, at least light hours in a job I may or may not keep, but I haven’t decided if I’m going to live the college life or take online courses. People get nervous around me when they find out I’m a telepath,” she looked around at all of us, then added, “Well, most people.”

  Alina winked, “At least you’ll spot the scumbags that are after just one thing with a single look from a mile away.”

  Kelly bit her lip, “There is that. It’s probably why I have this power, because of how cluelessly naïve I was in seeing the truth of them at first. That’s what I wanted most, to never be deceived on that level again. And I am coming to trust my new instincts, even without mindreading it’s a lot easier for me to feel the sense of a person, just with empathy.”

  That dampened the mood a bit, and Alina looked guilty, as if she’d stepped in it. Which, in a way, she had. I also hadn’t missed the fact Kelly had looked at me when she’d said that last sentence, and I wondered if it wasn’t too late to avoid that complication, although she likely just meant in finding trustworthy friends.

  It was hard to say, considering what she’d gone through the lack of sexual tension wasn’t a strong indicator either way. She’d have some healing to do, before she’d consider physical intimacy of any kind again. Kelly wasn’t cold, but she was definitely reserved.

  As usual, I thought too damned much, but the last thing I wanted to do was make her recovery more difficult.

  Alina said in a remorseful tone, “Sorry, that was thoughtless of me.”

  Kelly shook her head, “It’s fine, ignoring it won’t make it go away, and I need to grow comfortable with facing it. I won’t live a life of fear and remain their victim.”

  I was betting that conviction had a lot to do with Ashley’s advice too. It was a little more mature than I’d have expected from a sixteen-year-old at this stage of her recovery.

  Ashley asked, “Are you three sticking around after? We’re going to pick up lunch at a fantastic Greek place I know… in New York. I can fold us all there.”

  Alina said, “I could definitely go for a lamb Gyro.”

  “Me too, and some hummus,” said Thea.

  “Me three,” I noted.

  Kelly grinned, “It’s almost time, let’s head in.”

  It looked like we’d be getting another family friend, perhaps sooner than I anticipated, and we weren’t the only one. I was sure Ash would be bringing her around the Incandescent Guardians as well. Not to mention the Silver Seraphs, who Ash was still close to, her best friend being Alyssa. After all, she’d practically been an honorary member of their team for two years, before she’d turned eighteen and seduced her way into Bob’s family.

  Call me an idiot, the smartest dumb person in the world, as that hadn’t been my intention. Although it was hardly an unwelcome development. It was obvious in hindsight that my new way of saving individuals before they became monsters, either on accident or purpose after a quickening, was a whole new social equation. There’d be no professional distance that came naturally with a psychiatrist treating a mentally ill patient. Not that all my efforts would work out that way, but I was pleased at the idea of enlarging my circle of friends outside the polyamory circle as I impacted one life at a time.

  It took a rare person to be friends with me and look past my social oddities, or even lovers like the three amazing ladies in my life. But by very definition the men and women that Thea sent me to save, would likely meet that bar by being worthy of our efforts. At least, the ones I was saving from themselves, not the truly evil ones that just needed to be stopped to save countless lives.

  I was saving the very best of us, and stopping the very worst, so of course I would form bonds with that first group by my interventions. Bonds that would enrich my and my ladies’ lives as well.

  Food for thought.

  The hearing had gone smoothly, as she was able to prove she could support herself, and that her parents were no longer willing to. Afterwards we headed to the Greek place and enjoyed our lunch together. At least, until we were about halfway done eating, and everything changed.

  The blood drained from Thea’s face.

  “Master, someone is slowly phasing the creation energy away from the Earth’s core, perhaps an attempt to minimize natural disasters. It will take me a few moments to discover from what phase and find them.”

  I said, “We need to go.”

  Kelly and Ashley looked worried, and I tried to give them a reassuring look as Thea, Alina, and I stood up and teleported to the ship. It was my worst nightmare, either Bob’s people or someone as powerful had found us, and they must’ve objected to the creation energy in our planet’s core.

  I didn’t want to make assumptions, perhaps they merely thought of it as an accident, cleaning up after Bob the alien’s ship had polluted our planet with creation energy. I wasn’t going to depend on that idea though.

  It would also undoubtedly be the first true threat I’d faced, supers were no match for my devices and technology based on meta-energy, after all. But the alien ship would be a match and more, most likely would be far ahead of me in understanding the universe.

  My heart started to pound, and I felt adrenaline flood my veins as we appeared on the bridge of our ship. I wondered if this rush and anxiety was what Faith and Alina felt every time that they fought in a super battle. The aliens were stealing the energy, and the life of every super on the Earth depended on me winning the current confrontation, either through diplomacy, or if necessary, main force.

  It was more in worry for Alina and Thea than myself, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried.

  I’d been half expecting something like this, but not this soon. They’d come to clean up after their mess, and to reclaim the creation energy.

  Chapter Six

  The bridge of the ship was one large holographic interface, though there were stations present that could control the ship that was basically in Thea’s hands, since I didn’t have one. She could more than handle it. I sat behind the operations console and examined the scans.

  Thea said, “I’ve found them, and their ship is about a hundred times more powerful than ours.”

  That… wasn’t really a surprise. The creation energy that had escaped their core, a part of Bob, had been less than one percent of the total reactor’s energy. I’d kept it lower if only for Thea’s sake, because it’d made us more than powerful enough to handle our enemies on Earth, and even advanced civilizations in the stars that hadn’t yet discovered creation energy or the meta-energy.

  She was already bored even running the ship, a burgeoning country, and a jail, not to mention running simulations and scans of the universe. So I couldn’t imagine she’d stay sane, the version on the ship, if she had a hundred times the capacity.

  It made me wonder if Bob’s people’s A.I. matrixes were sane at all, and probably locked down with a multitude of rules. I was also trying to come up with a way around that problem, but I was drawing a blank. There had to be a way, but it remained undiscovered for the moment.

  Which all meant the enemy’s shields were by raw power alone a hundred times more powerful than ours. In a strictly even fight using nothing but the released meta-energy in our power cores, their weapons would blow right through our shields, and our beams would have no chance of breaching theirs.

  But it was even worse than that. Even if meta-energy could block or handle any force in this phase, in our reality no matter the power, there were other phases that would disregard those shields. Such as the entropy attacks, which both ships were shielded against.

  The problem was their shields were far more complex than ours, suggesting they’d discovered and countered a whole lot more of those tricks using lesser energies and phasing technology. It was quite likely even though they could blow through our shields in a fair fight, that they could also simply bypass them.

  Thea and I exchanged a long look of understanding, and the rest of Thea’s report outlining those facts went unsaid.

  “Alright, diplomacy it is. Match their phase and move us into the planet. Let’s see if that gets their attention.”

  The ship phased out of the physical universal phase, and it started to move toward the core of the planet. The enemy ship didn’t react right away.

  I frowned, as I considered the obvious, “Baby, do you think you could make a phase field that discriminated between creation and meta energies?”

  She shook her head, “Yes, but it won’t work. I’ve considered the idea of using the entire creation energy phase as a secondary reactor to the ship before. Just phasing as much meta-energy from that phase as possible, but my investigation showed in that phase the creation energy does not shed those particles. Or at least, the surrounding creation energy absorbs them simultaneously. There is no loose meta-energy to be found.

  “There is an alternate possibility. I could create a secondary reactor and leave the creation energy undefined. As you know the creation energy in the core isn’t exactly in phase with us, which is why we have to phase the resultant meta-energy to our reality to use for physical shields and beams. I believe I could successfully create a reactor of undefined creation energy that is far enough out of phase with the ship, that human thought would be unable to impact it. Then it would just require a larger phase shift to claim the meta-energy production for use.”

  Fuck me, that was so obvious, and simple. I imagined she’d known that for a while, but since I’d forbidden her from messing with creation energy, she hadn’t even mentioned it before. There also had to be a catch, perhaps a danger I wasn’t seeing.

  “Why don’t the aliens do it?”

  Thea shrugged, “Perhaps they don’t see a need, and don’t care their A.I.s live a torturous existence as chained and insane gods forbidden to use their power. They lock them down with programmed laws, and then don’t give them a second thought.”

  That was assuming a lot, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the answer, or at least a part of it. Perhaps they were afraid of having a large quantity of undefined creation energy as well, no matter the safeguards. Either way, it was a little too late.

  Or was it?

  Thea got my mind back on point, “Master, we’re being scanned. The scanning beam is so powerful that it’s passing right through our shields. I think it’s trying to interface with the computers, not me directly.”

  I frowned, then said, “Help it out, make sure a translation matrix is in there for it to find.”

  The original Bob had violated Serena to get that matrix, so he could talk to Oracle’s Maidens and communicate the problem and eventual solution. I had no doubt they didn’t know English either.

  I also wasn’t too worried about it, all of our critical data was stored in Thea herself, the creation energy matrix, and their scans couldn’t read that. All they’d find in the computers was the systems software that controlled the ship and the lab equipment.

  It also told the aliens weren’t quick to kill. I’d known Bob wasn’t, but people’s A.I.s aren’t always a good representation of their flesh and blood masters.

  Thea said, “Done.”

  I said, “Wait for them to stop the scan, then I want you to start on that reactor and bring it online as fast as possible.”

  Normally, we’d never have enough time, but we already had a secondary reactor which we’d abandoned when I’d created a damned sun in the cargo bay with my thoughts. So all she’d really have to do was configure new phase fields, it would be a software update, and Thea could do that fast. She’d probably even run the numbers a long time ago, and she might’ve had it ready to go.

  My sexy light brunette nodded, “It should be quick, since I don’t have to regulate, absorb, and direct the energy into my matrix. I just need to phase shift the energy all at once to the containment systems.”

  Alina said, “That’s good, right?”

  I nodded, “Yes. If she was taking it into herself, she’d have to go slow, or she’d lose control over how her own matrix grows and forms. Plus, I really like her the way she is.”

  Thea winked, and Alina said, “Me too.”

  I teased, “She’s already pretty high on the hot/crazy scale, after all, I’d hate to see her after a month of being a hundred times more bored.”

  Thea giggled, and stuck her tongue out at me. She also looked at me with a devoted loving look, probably because I hadn’t even considered asking her to match the other ship by absorbing that energy. And I wouldn’t, there had to be a way to preserve the woman I loved exactly how she was.

  “The scan cut off. I’m starting up the secondary reactor. The ship has increased the rate of absorption, but they’re also generating some kind of field over the entire planet. I suspect the field is designed to minimize the upheaval such an act would normally cause. We’re also being hailed.”

  That was quick, but I imagined their core A.I. could eat a translation matrix in less than a second, even if it did have to figure out the format first. It also wasn’t good that they’d sped up.

  “Bring it up in a hologram, if it includes a visual.”

  She nodded, and an alien being appeared on the bridge in the ugliest orange colored uniform I’d ever seen. It made prison orange look like the height of fashion, and I was a guy. It was hideous, and I could swear it was neon to make it even more obnoxious. I’d thought Bill had been exaggerating when he’d told me that part, but apparently not.