The Indestructibles (Book 4): Like A Comet Read Online Free PDF Page A

his parents and scooped up Watson—who had become bizarrely
comfortable when floating with Emily—into the crook of his arm.
          "Well, now they know we're
being invaded by aliens," Billy said.
          "I think it's time to admit
neither one of us can lie," Emily said.
          "There are worse things,"
Billy said, watching his family home grow tiny on the ground below.

 
     
     
    Chapter
4:
    The
mission is go
         
     
    A well-dressed woman sat alone at a
table at an outdoor café in Seville. Large sunglasses covered her face, a
floral scarf hid her close-cropped, dark hair. She sipped a short glass of
beer, golden in the warm sunlight, and drank in the smell of orange blossoms.
Sometimes, she thought, it almost became possible to forget how many people
wanted her dead, how many enemies she had, and all the many ways her life and
career had gone wrong.
          Her legs crossed, her elevated
foot rocking rhythmically, she watched families walking by pushing strollers,
small children in button-up shirts eating little cups of ice cream with tiny
spoons, school girls dressed in classic uniforms scurrying home from class. She
wouldn't stay here long. She never did. Movement remained the key to her
survival, she knew. But this place, the orange blossoms, the crowds, the old
buildings blending Christian and Muslim and Jewish architectures in elegant
displays… this place could be home, if she gave it half a chance.
          But people like her never get to
go home. It's the choices we make, she thought, and the actions we perform.
          Her phone rang, a soft classical
tune. She looked at it, wondering who might have the number. It was a burner
phone, a temporary device to be discarded once it outlived its usefulness. But
then again, the people who knew her, both allies and enemies, had ways of
finding a temporary cell phone number if they needed her.
          She answered.
          " Hola ," she said.
" Quien es? "
          "No need to pretend, agent,"
the voice on the other end of the phone said. "Don't worry. You're among
friends."
          "I have no friends," the
woman said in American-accented English.
          "With skills such as yours,
you'll always have friends," the voice said. "We remember the good
work you did for us."
          "So you're a client,"
she said.
          "Your very best client,"
the voice said. "We told you we would need you again someday."
          The woman sighed, sipped her beer
again, and gazed at the humanity passing around her. This had been nice for a
little while, she thought, allowing herself a few more moments to muse on the
illusion of a different life. I wish I'd had more time.
          "What do you need?" the
woman said, her tone becoming more formal and business-like. If you're going to
take my peace away from me, she thought, it had best be for a good reason.
          "We told you when you worked
for us before that your job was to stockpile the best human weapons you could
find," the voice said.
          "Well, that didn't end well,"
she said.
          "To the contrary, madam, your
work invigorated the right people. It moved a new generation of super humans to
action. You played the foil perfectly. And you got them prepared."
          "It would have been nice to
know that was the plan from the beginning," she said. "I might have
played the game differently."
          "We apologize. But we had our
reasons for keeping it close to the vest."
          The woman stood up, leaving twice
the cost of her beer in cash on the tabletop, and drained her glass before
placing it on top of the Euros. She scanned the crowd for anyone who might be
watching her. Seeing no one, she moved away. Though unarmed, she was far from
defenseless. She possessed powers herself and knew how to use them to deadly
effect.
          "So what's your game now?"
she asked, slinging her bag tightly across her chest in the event she had