Washington,
D.C.
The
Department of Meta-Human Affairs
Director
Waller’s Office
The locks on the thick mahogany door opened with a click.
Less than a second later, the door was pushed open from the outside,
allowing entrance to the trio standing out in the hallway.
Amanda Waller, Director of the DOMA and the White Queen of Checkmate,
swept into the room, shrugging off her jacket as she walked.
She threw her coat and briefcase atop a plush leather chair in the
corner of the office, circled her desk, and sat in her chair.
Waller motioned to the two chairs that sat facing her.
“Sit,” she ordered.
The two men the order was directed at stood just inside
Waller’s office, their eyes taking in the expansive
area. They had come from Chicago seeking the woman with which
they now had an audience. One of the men, the taller and more
handsome of the two, strode forward and plopped down in one of the
chairs. The second man moved forward hesitantly until he took
up a seated position next to the first.
“This is a pretty extravagant office,” Drew
Mackenzie, member of the Strong Arm of Humanity, said.
“I’m glad to see American tax dollars are being
spent properly.”
“Shut up,” Waller said, ignoring the comment and
the look of a bruised ego on Drew’s face.
“The two of you show up here unannounced, physically
threatened my employee, and demanded to see me. Well, here I
am. Now what the hell do you want?”
Drew’s eyes shifted over to his companion, waiting for the
question to be answered. From the thick sheen of sweat on
Preston Varner’s face and the subtle quaking of his hands,
Drew knew that he would have to take matters into his own
hands. “My name is Drew Mackenzie. My
companion and I represent a special interest group that has recently
been the victim of violence. Several of our friends and
coworkers were maliciously murdered.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Waller replied,
her face betraying the boredom she felt.
Drew continued, trying his best to hide the anger he felt at having
already been dismissed by Amanda Waller. “The only
evidence the forensic team was able to find pointed to the involvement
of the super-villain Doctor Polaris. Being as your work
concerns metas, I’m going to assume you are already familiar
with him. Our group has been trying our hardest to track
Doctor Polaris but have come up empty handed. All we do know
is that he was recently incarcerated. That is, until you
had him released.”
If Drew had expected some kind of rise out of Waller, he was sadly
disappointed. Calm and collected, she replied.
“That is one hell of an accusation to make, Mr.
Mackenzie. Do you have any proof?”
Drew nodded. “We have confidential documents that
show you authorized the release of Dr. Neal Emerson from Blackgate
Penitentiary. If you don’t answer our questions,
we’ll leak them to the press. How do you imagine
the major news outlets would react to proof that you aided and abetted
the release of a known criminal?”
“Confidential documents, you say?” Waller asked,
still maintaining her poise. “How would one such as
yourself get your hands on confidential documents?”
“I have my ways,” Drew replied. He smiled
a shit eating grin that made Waller want to punch him in the face.
Waller considered her next words carefully. She could easily
have these pricks thrown out of the building, but then she risked them
going to the media as they had already threatened. Instead,
she sat forward, leaning upon her crossed arms.
“Assuming I am guilty of the crimes you say, and I am in no
way admitting my guilt, what is the point? What do you want
from me?”
“The location of Doctor Polaris,” Preston said
quickly, his voice soft.
“Ma’am,” he quickly added.
“What makes you think I know where he is?”
“Call it an educated guess,” Drew responded, taking
back control of the conversation. “You released him
for a reason. Most likely a reason that ends up benefiting
you, meaning you’re keeping close tabs on him.
Plus, you head up a department of the federal government.
I’m sure you’re more than capable of finding out
the hiding place of one psychopathic killer.”
“I’m going to be completely honest with the two of
you,” Waller said. “At the present
moment, I do not know where Doctor Polaris is.”
Drew stood, motioning to Preston to do the same.
“Then find out Ms. Waller, or we’ll expose you to
the public. I would love to see how long you last in this
position or how long the President stays in the White House once
America finds out the current administration is in bed with
meta-terrorists.”
“I’ll look into the matter,” Amanda
replied. Her face was devoid of emotion and her voice steady,
giving the two Strong Arm of Humanity members no clue as to whether or
not Waller was going to play ball. “Now please
leave. I’ll make contact with you once I have the
information you want.”
“Should I leave a phone number with your
secretary?” Drew asked when he was halfway to the door.
For the first time, Waller’s face showed blatant
emotion. Her eyes were slits, shooting daggers in
Drew’s direction. “I run a department of
the federal government, Mr. Mackenzie. I’m more
than capable of locating two nobodies with delusions of
grandeur.”
Drew frowned, but knew now was not the time to pick a fight.
He spun and stormed out, Preston following closely in his wake.
Outside in the hallway, Drew’s pace didn’t slow as
he headed for the elevator. As he worked to keep up, Preston
could see Drew was muttering angrily to himself. When the duo
reached the elevator, Drew punched the button summoning the car and the
doors parted only a few seconds later. They climbed inside
the empty elevator and the doors closed.
As soon as the elevator began to lower, Drew turned to Preston and
threw him up against the wall. Preston hit hard, the back of
his head striking the elevator wall. He slid down to the
floor where Drew stood over him, pointing and screaming.
“A lot of help you were, you fat piece of shit!”
Drew exclaimed. “Mr. ‘I’m
taking the forefront. You’re only here as
support!’ You disgust me, Preston. Grow
some balls and stand up for yourself! I don’t know
how the Director ever made you a Regional Director.”
“Y-You can’t speak to me like that,”
Preston replied, his arm half covering his face in fear that Drew would
strike him again. “I’m your
superior.”
“You’re no one’s superior, you
pussy.” Drew took a few deep breaths, his chest
heaving as he looked from Preston to the dull metal walls of the
elevator. Drew spun in circles back and forth as if trying to
decide what to do next. He rubbed his forehead as the
frustration of being talked down to like a child finally started to
deteriorate. “Damn it,” he muttered under
his breath.
“Why are you so angry?” Preston asked as he began
to rise to his feet, fairly confident that the outburst was
over. “We’re going to get the information
we want. Then we’re going to track down Doctor
Polaris and deliver his head on a pike to the Director.
Everything will go back to normal.”
“I don’t know,” Drew replied.
He straightened his tie as the elevator reached the ground floor and
the doors separated. “I have a bad feeling about
this.”
Inside her office, Amanda Waller was silently seething. She
reached for her desk phone—the one she knew to be encrypted
and untraceable—and punched in a phone number she knew by
heart. The call was answered after two rings.
“Who
is it?”
“Who the fuck do you think?” Waller shot
back. “Get your ass over to the Lincoln Memorial in
twenty minutes. We have a problem.”
XXX
 |
America's
Personal Meta-Team...
:Division
of
Checkmate
“Collision
Course”
|
| Task Force X
#15 - February, Year Six |
by Matt
Hrubey
|
XXX
Outside
Washington, D.C.
The Citadel
The Office of the
Black King
“You wanted to see me?”
Sergeant Steel’s eyes remained focused upon the acquisition
request sitting in his lap, but he motioned for Dinah Lance to
enter. She stepped inside, closing the door in her wake, and
opted to stand instead of sitting in one of the several chairs the
office housed. Dinah glanced around nervously, waiting for Steel
to say something. The silence quickly became more and more
uncomfortable.
Finally, Sergeant Steel set the document on his desk and looked up at
Dinah. “You fucked up royally, Lance,” he said
without greeting her.
The Black Canary stared at the floor, unaccustomed to the shame she was
feeling. It was like she was being scolded by Ted Grant, Wildcat
of the Justice Society, the primary father figure she had in her
life. Ted always had a way of making her feel like crap.
“I know, Sarge. But in my defense, she attacked me
first.”
“You’re the field leader of this operation for a
reason. I expected that you would be able to step above the petty
bickering and maintain your composure.”
“Jade and I have past—”
“I don’t want to hear excuses, Lance. I am well aware
of the soap opera that you and Cheshire call your past. I suppose
it was ignorant of me to hope that you two wouldn’t take shots at
each other.”
Dinah decided to take Steel’s advice and quit with the
excuses. “I’m sorry, sir,” was all she said.
It was silent for the few moments that followed. Dinah wished
Steel would say something while secretly wishing she could curl up in a
ball and die. Steel was one hundred percent right! She
acted like an amateur by letting Cheshire get to her. She should
have tried to walk away, but then Cheshire probably wouldn’t have
let her.
“Was it good?”
Dinah looked at Steel. “Excuse me?”
“Tell me the fight was at least worth it. I’ve been
hearing from several Pawns that you wailed on Cheshire with a
vengeance. Did you work out some frustration?”
Dinah half-smiled. “It was fantastic. Better than an
orgasm.”
There was no laughter. “Good, because it’s the last
time you’ll get the chance.”
“I know, Sarge. I promise that another fight won’t
happen.”
Steel shook his head. “No, you literally won’t get
another chance. Cheshire is gone.”
Dinah cocked an eyebrow. “What exactly do you mean by
‘gone’?”
“What do you mean what do I mean? She took off. She
somehow managed to sneak out of the Citadel without anybody finding
out. She left everything behind too except for a few personal
items.”
Now, Dinah sat. “Wasn’t her record being expunged
riding on her involvement with Task Force X?”
“Yes.”
“So there’s a wanted murderer now running around the
Nation’s Capital somewhere?”
“If she didn’t get on a plane or a train,” Steel
said. “And if that’s the case, then she could be
anywhere on the planet.”
“Shouldn’t we try and find her?” Dinah asked.
“I can get Nate, Beatriz, and Emerson together and head out
within the hour.”
“No.”
Dinah was back on her feet. “Why not? We need to find
her!”
“Two reasons, Lance. First off, there are other more
pressing matters at hand. Namely the Strong Arm of Humanity and
their hit list of potential targets. Second, you would need back
up because Emerson is gone too.”
Dinah rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. “Now
where did he go?”
Steel shrugged. “I haven’t the foggiest idea.
Records show he dipped out of the Citadel before your brawl yesterday
and hasn’t been back since.”
“Shouldn’t we have locator chips on the team members who
are certifiably crazy?” Dinah asked, rhetorically. She
glanced back at Sergeant Steel, who was sitting calmly, cool as a
cucumber. “Shouldn’t you be more upset about
this?”
“I’m too old to be stressing all the details.
We’ll find Cheshire. It’s only a matter of
time.”
“And Emerson?”
“I have this sneaking suspicion that the good doctor is working
in cahoots with Amanda. I don’t have any proof yet but
something is going on behind the scenes that I’m not aware
of. Amanda hasn’t been nearly as nosy as she usually is the
past couple of days. There’s got to be a reason for
it.”
“Does that mean we should try to track Emerson?”
Steel reached into his desk drawer and extracted a small item that he
kept hidden in the palm of his closed hand. “Emerson will
show back up eventually. We’ll grill him then. While
we’re waiting though, we have something else to keep us
occupied.” He placed his hand on the table and set down the
object he had been hiding.
It was the flash drive holding all the copied documents from the
personal computer of Amanda Waller.
“Call Pat and get him up here,” Steel told Dinah.
“It’s time to get to work.”
Washington, D.C.
The Lincoln
Memorial
Amanda Waller strode up the steps of the memorial, her heels clacking
with each step she took. When Waller reached the landing, her
eyes scoped out her surroundings, looking for the person she was
meeting. There were tourists everywhere, taking pictures of the
Lincoln statue, the National Mall, and the other historic attractions
that Washington had to offer. Annoyed, Waller pushed past a
family of five, interrupting their picture. She ignored the
glares she received.
Due to the man’s physical features, he wasn’t normally that
hard to find. That god awful blonde hair stuck out like a sore
thumb in—
There!
Waller stormed across the memorial, walking up to the man’s rear
and spinning him around so they were face to face. She had to
resist the urge to slap him in the face. After all, making a
scene was a bad idea when you were trying to blend in.
“Amanda,” the Director of the Strong Arm of Humanity
greeted. “What a pleasure to see you again. You said
there was a problem?”
Waller spoke through gritted teeth. “I’ll say.
Two of your lackeys showed up at my office an hour ago and blackmailed
me.”
That startled the Director. “Blackmailed you?”
“They have documents from Blackgate that tie me to Doctor
Polaris. That’s not
a good thing for me or for you because you better believe if I go down,
you’re coming with me.”
The Director seemed ready to laugh. “I’ll get off
easy, Amanda. After all, it was you who put me in the position
I’m in.”
The slap couldn’t be resisted anymore. Waller caught the
man full in the face with the palm of her hand. The Director
winced at the attack but gave no more sign that he even felt the sting.
“I think we both need to calm down here, Amanda,” the
Director said, his eyes glancing around to see that the eyes of several
strangers were now watching them. “Nothing’s happened
yet. Do you know why my men approached you?”
Waller rubbed her head, thinking back to the conversation with Drew and
Preston. “They said a few of their coworkers had been
murdered and evidence showed that Doctor Polaris was involved.
Honestly, though, I don’t know what they were talking
about. I sent Task Force X on a mission to your Chicago office
but it was strictly recon and information gathering. I was never
told about any contact with people.”
The Director’s mouth became a deep frown. “Your team
was responsible for that massacre?”
“Massacre? What are you talking about?”
“Several of my people were murdered by an intruder. The
intruder left behind a nice message for us too.”
“That’s impossible. Cheshire was the one that entered
the building but she told me everything went smoothly.”
“I bet she did, Amanda. She lied to you!”
Amanda growled. “Keep your voice down.”
“I’ve told you before, Amanda, that you should keep the
villains in their jail cells. Only bad things happen when you let
them roam free. I don’t care what kind of precautions you
take to keep them in line.”
“Don’t you dare lecture me.”
“My entire organization is on a manhunt now. There’s
no way I’m going to be able to throw them off your trail.
They smelled blood. They’re not going to stop until they
get Polaris. If you try to stop them, they’ll take you down
instead. And they can do it too. I trained them
myself.”
“Well, you better think of something quickly then. Both our
asses are at stake here.”
The Director considered the predicament for a moment. “If
we’re going to pull this off, we need to give my people someone
to blame. Even if it’s not the right someone.”
Waller pulled her phone from her breast pocket and began rifling
through her phonebook. “Give me a few minutes. I
think I have the perfect person in mind.”
Washington, D.C.
Georgetown
Captain Nathaniel Adams tilted back his head and winced as the liquor
slid down this throat. The burn was strong but Nate hardly felt
it. His head hung low as he wallowed in the depression he
felt. He prided himself on being the best soldier he could
be. He followed orders without question, even when he had
reservations about what he was being asked to do. He would never
admit it but the day he was appointed field leader of Task Force X had
been one of the proudest days of his life. The title showed that
his skills were recognized and appreciated.
And then it was all taken away in one fell swoop.
He knew Dinah Lance well, having served with her in the Justice League
International. He had no problem with her or with following her
orders, but the fact that she walked into Task Force X and stole his
leadership role grated him to no end. He refused to complain
about it. He trusted Sergeant Steel enough to know that his
decision to make the Black Canary field leader was done for a
reason. But still, even though rationalization told him to move
on and get over it, he could help but feel bitter. Hence the
strong desire for booze.
Nate ordered another shot and swallowed it fast. He had lost
count of the amount of shots he had taken so far. His vision was
starting to blur and his thoughts were getting foggy, but he still felt
angry. Nate knew it was a bad idea to get drunk when a person was
in such an emotional state. However, the alcohol had won out over
reason.
“I’ll have what he’s having.”
Nate turned his head to see who had chosen to occupy the seat next to
him. The mane of emerald hair gave him his answer
immediately. “Beatriz,” he muttered softly.
“Hello, Nate,” she said, handing over a crisp twenty dollar
bill to the bartender. “You look like hell.”
“Thanks,” Nate responded as he put his head down on the bar.
“You know I’m really starting to think I made the wrong
decision coming here.”
Nate really didn’t want to talk, but he could tell Beatriz
wasn’t going anywhere. There were tons of bars in
Georgetown and Beatriz had chosen this one on purpose. She was
here for a reason. “And why is that?”
Beatriz threw back her head, swallowing the shot. She wiped off
the corners of her mouth before answering Nate’s question.
“Well, I’ve been here two days now. And in that time
the highlights have been a catfight and watching a miserable man drink
away his feelings. If I wanted to have this much fun, I would
have bought a dog and had it put down.”
“Funny.”
“This sure isn’t the Justice League.”
Nate shook his head. “No, it isn’t. But you
should have expected that coming in. Look at the people
we’re being forced to associate with. Cheshire is a
murderer no matter how hard she pretends she’s changed her
ways. Doctor Polaris is certifiable and Amanda Waller? I
don’t need to say anything about her. Her reputation says
it all.”
A second shot was put down in front of Beatriz. “I’ll
drink to that. That’s why they need people like us.”
“They don’t need us,” Nate shot back, each syllable
dripping with bitterness. “They use us.”
Beatriz cocked an eyebrow. “Then why are you here?”
“I wanted a drink.”
“No, not here,
here. Why are you with Task Force X if you feel this way?”
Nate stared into Beatriz’s eyes. “Why are you?”
Beatriz wagged a finger and smirked. “I asked you
first.”
Nate hesitated. He’d met Beatriz before but she was talking
to him like they were best friends. He hardly knew the
woman. “My country needed me,” he finally
answered. “What kind of person would I be if I said
‘no’?”
“A rational person,” Beatriz answered. “Which
apparently neither of us are.”
Nate raised yet another shot glass full of amber liquid.
“And I’ll drink to that,” he said. Beatriz
tapped his glass with hers and they drank together. When Nate
finished, he said, “I think we need each other.”
“Are you trying to seduce me?”
“No,” Nate replied, stone faced.
Beatriz rolled her eyes. “Lighten up, Captain.”
Turning his chair, Nate leaned forward until his silver-skinned nose
nearly touched Beatriz’s. “I’m being serious
here, Bea. There’s something going on. We were
brought here to protect the country but we’re being
manipulated. We can’t trust anybody. That’s why
we need to watch each other’s backs if we’re planning on
surviving this experience.”
“You’re making me even happier I signed on.”
“Beatriz,” Nate said, sternly.
“I agree. In fact, it makes sense. This isn’t
the Justice League, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make it
one.”
The sound of beeping emanated from the purse of Beatriz Da Costa and
the coat pocket of Nathaniel Adam, interrupting the seriousness of
their conversation. They reached for the devices secreting the
sound and pulled out twin Blackberries. The message they received
was identical. It was from the Black King demanding that they
return to the Citadel immediately.
“Damn it,” Nate said, sliding off the bar stool. He
stumbled a bit at first, but found his footing after a few steps.
Beatriz grabbed her purse and flashed a smile at the bartender.
She strode past Captain Atom on the way to the door. “Duty
calls,” Beatriz called out over her shoulder.
XXX
NEXT
ISSUE: Suicidal: Reprise!
Author's
Notes: So this is the issue of TASK FORCE X that
I thought would never happen. As I recently told Curt, my
computer crashed and I lost everything. Not a huge deal as I
didn’t have anything all that important saved on my hard
drive. However, I lost all my issues of TFX that I had saved
up. I was working on issue #23 when my computer crapped out on me.
I thought I was done with TFX.
I didn’t feel like redoing all my work. However, the more I
thought about it, the more I viewed the situation as a chance to fix
mistakes I made. So from this point on, TFX is going in a much
different direction than I had first intended.
The issue you just read was severely
lacking in the action department. I’ll make up for it next
issue, I promise. This issue was my way of getting acclimated
again with the cast of TFX and setting the stage for things to
come. I hope you all enjoyed it and continue to read what comes
next.
- Matt
8/11/09
Story
© 2009 Matt
Hrubey
and may not be reproduced without
permission.