Free Apex 2: Rise of the Super Soldiers by Adam Moon Page B

aliens all looked the same, but there was something about the way the tall one regarded her that forced her to take notice. It gave her the willies.
    Watson had originally planned to have the teenagers showcase their abilities in front of the aliens. The idea was simple intimidation. If the aliens were scared enough, maybe they’d start to talk or at least try to find a way to communicate. But the last thing he wanted to do now was to stoop to Delacourt’s level, especially in front of him.
    Jack waved to the cluster of aliens in a mock cheerful way and then sarcastically said to Watson, “Well, that was enlightening. Is that it then?”
    Watson smiled and lied. “I just thought you’d like to see them for yourselves. Let’s go. I need to find out the status of my men and you two are probably getting pretty bored following me around.” The last part was a ruse. He knew they weren’t getting bored of him; he was tiring of babysitting them when so much was going on around him that required his attention.
    Jack turned to Melanie. “Do you want to go and practice some more?”
    Before she could respond, Delacourt blurted out, “I’d like to watch you two in action if you’ll allow it.” Then he turned to Watson and said snidely, “That is, if Commander tight-ass will let me out of his sight for a second.”
    Watson scowled so Delacourt tried a different tactic. “If you were a guest on my base, I’d let you have the run of the place. We’d have treated you like royalty. Come on, man. I can be trusted. I’m a Goddamn General and a base Commander just like you are.”
    Watson didn’t have the time to get into petty arguments so he went against his gut instinct. “Go on then. I’ll be back around in about two hours.”
    To Jack and Melanie, he said, “If either of you have a problem, let me know.”
    Delacourt lips pursed in agitation but he kept them shut. Watson disliked him already, and for no good reason. After all, it was Watson who’d screwed up, not him. The orb had been intact the whole time it was in his custody, but the second Watson was put in charge of it, it all went to hell. That was why he’d made it his new mission to do everything in his power to make sure the teenagers were entrusted in his custody instead of Watson’s, whether the kids liked it or not. They could be exceptional military assets if they were molded properly. Watson could just keep the knocked out idiots for all he cared. He seriously doubted they’d make full recoveries any time soon anyway . He just had to see for himself if their abilities could live up to his expectations.

Putting Delacourt in his Place
     
    Jack hated to showcase his powers in front of the weird little Commander but he was too polite to cause a fuss. Every time he teleported an object, the Commander looked around the room feverishly, trying to find out where it had reappeared. When Jack teleported his own body across the room, the Commander smiled in a way that sent chills up his spine.
    Delacourt asked, “How do you do it, son?”
    Jack tried to put it into words but the truth was that it was instinctive for him now. “I just focus on what I want to influence and then I try to think of where I’d like that thing to go. I get a kind of tunnel-vision when I do it and all I see is what I want to teleport.” He didn’t mention that sometimes his abilities worked independently from his intentions or that when he got furious, they worked on some type of supercharged autopilot.
    Delacourt yawned before Jack had finished the last sentence and then turned to Melanie. “What can you do?” He ogled Melanie’s body without any attempt to hide the fact.
    She shook her head in disgust. “I think it’s called telekinesis but I can do more than just move things with my mind, I can affect them too. Watch this.” Then she smiled impishly and winked at Jack as her eyes scrunched in concentration and her hands engorged in blood. When Delacourt saw that she was