NOVEL NEXT Calling
Josie wondered what was going on with Jack. She decided to just cook the meal for
the girls and they would find out when he was ready. She had seen him act like this
before when he thought he had a good idea.
Usually that involved explosions of some kind.
“All right,” said Jack. He came down from the office with wristbands in his hand.
“Let’s see if these work like I think they will.”
He handed out the bands. Josie noted that hers had a lightning bolt in the center. She
glanced at Elaine’s. Hers had a feather in the center. A ring of other symbols went
around the center symbol. She expected that each one was marked with whatever the
girls had told him was their marker.
She put it on and it sparked for a moment. The markers lit up, then cooled. A
secondary light glowed green under the center symbol.
“When the light is green, the bands are ready to use,” said Jack. “When they are red,
they are out of power. You are going to have to snack when you feel weak to keep
the charge going. Everybody got that?”
The girls nodded. They looked perplexed by the explanation. Josie scratched her
eyebrow.
“So this is the new Jack Caller,” said Jack. He placed his own on the arm. “I don’t know
how far away the signal will reach, or if it will reach everywhere in the city. There
are probably places where the signal will drop, just move until you can pick
something back up.
“So what you do is push down on who you want to talk to with a finger.” He pushed
down on what looked like an Avengers A. “Can you hear me, Al?”
“Of course,” said Alicia. “Echo.”
“I want you girls to go out in the neighborhood,” said Jack. “Spread out and check
in where you are. You just push my button and let me know. We’ll see if the signal
will go through buildings like this. Also, we’re checking to see how long the charge
lasts with constant use. It’ll recharge itself, but you guys are going to have to eat a
little more. All right, go. I’ll call you back when we’re done.”
He waved his hands for them to set out.
They filed out, talking about the bands.
“Alicia is an Avenger?,” asked Josie.
“She wouldn’t take a number two,” said Jack.
“I wonder why,” said Josie. She shook her head.
“This is what I need from you,” said Jack. “I need you to go as far as you can outside
the city and call back. That way we can see if the caller will go through the wall, and
how far away it will reach.”
“All right,” said Josie. “I can do that with Zatanna. How far do you need me to go?”
“Go as far away as you can,” said Jack. “If it’s too far, then there won’t be a
connection back. I would love to be able to call somewhere really far away, but that
isn’t practical yet.”
“Nor necessary since we only know Elaine and our girls,” said Josie.
“I have to make a single use for Guin and Linus,” said Jack. “But they will only be
able to talk to me, or you. I don’t quite trust them with Elaine, or the girls.”
“How sure are you these will work at range?,” asked Josie. The demonstration
showed the concept was doable.
“I’m just glad they didn’t cut our hands off,” said Jack. He grinned at her expression.
“Don’t worry. I made sure they wouldn’t do anything like that when I put them
together.”
“I’m so glad to know that,” said Josie. She looked down at the band around her wrist.
“I just push the button like Deadpool, and we’re talking.”
“Exactly,” said Jack. “Go ahead. The girls are calling right now.”
Josie changed to Zatanna. The caller bracelet cut off when she assumed another form.
That was good to know. She wished she was at the edge of her limit on the other side
of the city. She landed in a familiar spot and thought she was on the road to Kernly.
She hid off the road and powered down. She had enough of a charge to get back
home, but she couldn’t try to call Jack as Zatanna. She pushed the button.
The Ducklings and Elaine had fanned out from the hole in the wall and seemed to
be working their way toward the center of the city and along the inner wall. Jack
seemed to be teaching them to clear the channel after speaking their peace.
“This here’s Rubber Duck for Army Monkey Boy,” said Josie. “I’m five by five in the
Big Green along Kernly Road. Going to say three cities away, Army Monkey Boy.
Come back.”
“Copy that, Rubber Duck,” said Jack. “Max range out?”
“I have no idea,” admitted Josie. She knew how she could find out. “Have to go
offline to read your fortune. Ready?”
“Hit me,” said Jack.
“Off line,” said Josie. She released the call button and took the bracelet off. She
reached for her watch. She changed into Zatanna again and asked for the book of
knowledge. It gave her the approximate range of the watch. She switched back and
put the watch back on. She pushed the button to call back. “Rubber Duck is back on
the air waves. Bee oh kay says fifty more klicks west. That’s a big radius from the
hole in the wall.”
“It’s working better than I thought,” said Jack. “Any problems, girls and Elaine?”
A chorus of negatives flowed through the line.
“All right,” said Jack. “Let’s bring it in for dinner.”
“There’s a party of Montrose heading for the house,” said Matilda.
“Everyone clear the line,” said Jack. “Where are you, Matty?”
“I am halfway to the desert shop,” said Matilda. “I saw them go by on the road
heading back to our place. They’re pulling a covered wagon. I can’t see what’s
inside.”
“Everyone form up on Elaine,” said Jack. “I got this. Josie, come in and flank around
in case one runs. Let’s see if they are actually coming here, or if they are going
somewhere else.”
“Saw them, Milord,” said Beatrice. “I am walking two streets away from Matilda. At
least two hooded men in the front. They are on the shop road, heading for the wall.”
“Copy that, Bea,” said Jack. “Keep an eye out for more of them.”
Josie changed back to Zatanna and lost the link. She wished that she was almost
home. She appeared on a roof where she could see the wagon rolling toward their
den. She decided to change back long enough to let Jack know that this wasn’t a false
alarm.
“The girls are right,” said Josie. “I see two on the bench, and there may be two, or
more in the back.”
“Probably dropping off more victims, or checking why the last bunch didn’t send
anyone else through the wall,” said Jack. “Everybody hang back. I’ll deal with this.
Let me know if more of these guys make themselves visible.”
“At least you know your wrist phones work,” said Josie. She moved along the roofs
to follow the wagon. She wanted to confront them in the street. She decided to hold
on for Jack. He probably wanted to make sure before he did something heinous.
“Dick Tracy would be proud,” said Jack. “They’re giving the secret knock. Let me get
started.”
Josie watched the bulbous shape of the hole in the wall. Jack opened the door to
greet the wagon, grinning at the people on the bench in the front. He waved at them.
They started asking questions. Jack said something. She couldn’t hear all of it, but it
sounded like he said that the old crew was dead. The people on the wagon
dismounted, pulling clubs and swords. Answers were needed about this situation.
Josie reached for her watch. She knew Jack didn’t need her help, but she didn’t want
to let him carry her quest for her. She should get down there and do something to help
out.
Three of the men dropped dead before she could do anything. She blinked. The fourth
tried to run. Jack stabbed him in the leg, his persona a mass of floating swords. What
had he pushed to get that?
She dropped down as a hawk and returned to normal. All of the Montrose except
for the living one seemed cut to pieces.
“Blade is okay,” said Jack. “I think I like Captain America more.”
“You’ll never have to worry about winning a swordfight,” said Josie. She went to the
back of the wagon. It was shut against people peering into the back from the street.
“Anybody in there?”
“We are,” said a young voice. “These men took us. I want to go home.”
“Hold on,” said Josie. “We’re talking to one of the guys now. We’ll get you home.”
“The Ducklings and I are together,” said Elaine. “I can’t talk to Jack through the
band.”
“They don’t work when we’re changed for some reason,” said Josie. “We have
another wagon full of kidnaped girls. Give us a second.”
“Who do you work for, Dudley?,” asked Jack. “I would like to have a talk with him.”
“You can’t be serious,” said Dudley. He tried to stop the blood coming out of his
leg with pressure from his hands. “He’s a lord.”
“Let me help you,” said Josie. She pushed the button on I, Vampire again. The blood
from the wound floated to her. “Give us the name and I will let you go to warn him
that I am coming to get him. Otherwise, we’ll have to find him ourselves. He won’t
get a warning, and you won’t be alive.”
“It’s Lord Endwright,” said Dudley. He watched the liquid stream through the air.
“Please let me go.”
“Where do we find him?,” asked Jack.
“He has a townhouse toward the center of the city, a few blocks west of the
Adventurer’s Hall,” said Dudley.
“Are you an adventurer?,” asked Jack.
“No,” said Dudley. “I couldn’t get the license.”
“All right then,” said Jack. “You can go.”
Josie waved her hand in dismissal.
They watched Dudley pulled the sleeve of his shirt off and tie it over the wound in
his leg before he limped away. He hopped along to the corner.
“I’m going to follow him and see where he goes,” said Jack. “See what you can do
about these women. You might have to ask the Corle posse to hold on to them until
they can go home.”
“The Corle posse?,” asked Josie.
“They’re the women I put up in Corle’s mansion after I killed him,” said Jack. “Send
a message. We might have to ask them to route survivors back to where they belong
instead of getting Guin on things.”
“I want my shot at this Endwright, then we do the raid,” said Josie.
“I’ll wait for you,” said Jack. He turned into the Falcon. “Save some food for me for
when I get back.”
He flew off with a flap of his wings.
“Are you there, Elaine?,” asked Josie.
“Yes,” said Elaine. “These bands are a wonder.”
“Bring the kids in,” said Josie. “We’re going to talk to some people.”
“Understood, ma’am,” said Elaine. “Is it about the Montrose?”
“Yes,” said Josie. “Jack said he met some people that might be able to help us get
these girls back to where they belong. I need someone better with horses to help get
the wagon over there.”
“All right,” said Elaine. “Do you want to keep the wagon?”
“Do you want to keep the wagon and horses?,” said Josie. “Because that will be a lot
of work to feed the animals and muck out any stalls.”
“I’ll talk about it with the girls,” said Elaine.
“All right,” said Josie. “Let’s get this done.”