The Prospects (Book 2): Nothing Poorer Than Gods Read Free

ready for a mind transplant. You still have to go through months of physical therapy before it’ll feel like yours again, not to mention the casual illness you’ll get as it adjusts to common viruses and …”
    “Yeah, I went through all that as Pig-Girl.”
    “Are you ready to eliminate the immature velociraptor-augmented live one?”
    “Wait on that. He’s on a farm with a lot of other freaks.”
    “How much information did he share?”
    “They know about Alerion and Griffin Industries.”
    “Then they all must die.”
    “That seems extreme.”
    “When did you get a conscious?”
    “I’m just saying, there’s twenty of them. It’ll be a lot of cleanup.”
    “We can’t take any risks. The future of our great nation is at stake.”
    “You keep saying that. I don’t know what you mean.”
    “You don’t have to. Follow my orders if you want a new body like your old one. How did they find out so much?”
    “There’s another live-one. A dog-face who’s been here for about two years. Ring any bells?”
    “There was canine-augmented we presumed incinerated in Newark.”
    “Who screwed up?”
    “Let me retrieve the file. Oh, it was Puca. I paid her for a job not done.”
    “She’s a slob. No finesse.”
    “But she throws bombs with passion.”
    “Whatever, we found the raptor-legged boy and the dog-face she missed. And there’s an old supervillain running things. Quad-Clops.”
    “No one’s seen him in years. Are you sure?”
    “Gee, maybe it’s some other four-eyed freak who says he used to be a supervillain.”
    “Don’t be sarcastic. Quad-Clops is not exactly America’s most wanted, but he’ll make a good addition to my army, whether he wants to or not.”
    “Give me a couple of days to explore the site and see if anyone else could be useful. I’ll note the places of attack and how to cut off any routes for escape. We should be able to wipe them out in minutes.”
    “What about witnesses and clean-up?”
    “This place is so far from civilization only buzzards will find the bodies. But I’ll need the top team’s help, particularly Sirin for air support, Flayer for close work, and Slick Shadow to catch the runaways. And send Malone. He’s a crackshot.”
    “I’ll send Puca as well to make up for her mistake. Are the live ones and their protectors armed?”
    “They have at least one gun.” Pig-Girl pulled a long thin knife from her Barbie. “I got a blade, that’s it.”
    “But you killed dozens of people with blades.”
    “In my old body, I …”
    Pig-Girl’s ears twitched when she heard footsteps. She reassembled the cylinder and stuck it, along with the knife, back into the Barbie.
    A woman’s voice outside the outhouse said, “Is someone in there?”
    Pig-Girl got out quickly. In the candlelight she saw a husky woman. When she stepped closer, Pig-Girl saw her dark-red leathery skin and oversized head supported by a neck brace with a cage of supports attached to her forehead.
    “Hello,” she said with a pleasant smile. “You must be Pig-Girl. I’m Marcia.”
    Pig-Girl kept her distance from Marcia.
    “Are you hurt? I’m a nurse.”
    “No hurt.”
    “What about Barbie? I can give her a check-up.”
    “No touch,” said Pig-Girl with a hint of a South Boston accent.

Chapter Two: Island Life
     
    Metahuman Affairs Bureau Special Agent Alex O’Farrell sat in the back of a helicopter flying over the choppy Atlantic Ocean and talked into his smartphone.
    “I have to tell you, honey, this new commute beats taking the train.”
    “I’m glad to hear it,” said Emily. “Are you ready to go back to work?”
    “I had a month to recuperate. I had fun with Calvin, but Stormhead wants to get the ball rolling again. Someone’s got to make sure America’s premiere superhero team follows the law.”
    “Remind Stormhead that if you wake up in a hospital again, so will he.”
    Alex laughed. “He’s more afraid of you than of any supervillain. But don’t worry. The