Vanguard: The Complete Second Season: A Superhero Serial (Vanguard: The Collected Seasons Book 2) Read Free Page A

all.”
    “Bit more complicated than that, buddy,” said Jim.
    The door to the training room opened and Colonel Thorne stepped inside, still wearing his military dress uniform. “Unfortunately Jim’s correct.”
    “Do we have a verdict, Leo?” asked McCabe.
    Thorne examined the faces of the team, the people who had become like family to him in the short time they’d been together. He took a deep breath and looked down at the floor.
    “Why don’t you all hit the showers first and change. Meet in the monitor room in twenty minutes. There’s a lot we have to discuss.”
    “Doesn’t sound too good, does it?” asked Erin as she walked beside Koji towards the exit.
    “We don’t know that,” said Koji.
    Jim, McCabe, and Lee stayed behind with Thorne after the rest of the team left the training room. Thorne looked at Lee first. “Go on ahead of us, we’ll be there soon.”
    Lee hesitantly nodded and left the room. Thorne sighed and faced McCabe and Jim. He made eye contact with each man and shook his head.  
    Jim groaned. “Figured as much.”
    “You and I have some other things to talk about,” said Thorne.
    Jim raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”
    “Twenty minutes,” said Thorne.  
    ***
    After showering, the team met in the Atlas’ monitor room, surrounded by various displays and computers used to monitor events from around the globe. The group all gathered around the round table, dressed in comfortable clothes as opposed to the uniforms they wore in the field and during the training session. Once everyone was seated at the round table in the center of the room, Thorne rose from his seat and rested his palms on the table, leaning over it.
    “It’s not good,” he said. “The President’s made good on his promise to discontinue his support for our little project here. The government will no longer fund Vanguard.”
    A brief silence fell over the group. Thorne first told them of this possibility after they returned from Olympus last month, but nothing had been decided upon yet and most hoped Lawson would change his mind after seeing how Vanguard defeated the Khagan. But now, they were without words. Or almost all of them.
    “So screw ‘em,” said Erin. “Lawson says he won’t support us, we go at it alone.”
    “You think this kinda operation comes cheap?” asked Dom, holding a hand out to gesture to their surroundings. “How are you gonna keep the lights on?”
    “Unfortunately, Vaughn’s right, but the ongoing funds are only one problem,” said Thorne. “All the equipment here—the computers, the training room, the Icarus, the damn base itself—that’s all government property.”
    “But Zen created the Icarus,” said Erin, pointing at Zenith.
    “And the government footed the bill,” said Thorne. “If we even wanted to try to keep going without government support, we’d be operating on a shoestring budget. We wouldn’t have a fraction of the resources we’d become accustomed to.”
    “Why would they decide to shut us down?” asked Anita. “After everything we’ve done? After we stopped the Red Fist?”
    Thorne sat back down and rested his chin on a closed fist. “I tried playing that card, but this all comes down to politics. Lawson wants international cooperation to deal with the specials and that means a treaty banning the use of specials for military purposes. He’s worried about consequences if the US violates that treaty by keeping an off-the-books operation.”
    “So what’s his solution?” asked Jim. “If we’re not going to deal with the specials, then who is?”
    “The UN Security Council is overseeing the formation of an international organization that will deal with rogue specials. And based on the work I’ve done here with Vanguard, they want me in charge,” said Thorne.
    “So that’s the answer then,” said Koji with a smile. “We work for this organization, right? That still gets us the backing we need.” The look on Thorne’s face caused Koji’s