Hidden Potential: Nibiru Rising: Book 1 Read online

  Rick paced around the room, contemplating where to start. Outside of Maelstrom, nobody knew anything about his abilities. It was something he depended on to remain safe from attacks. If people knew how they worked, he’d be vulnerable, which was something he hadn’t had to worry about in a long, long time.

  “I’m waiting,” she said, tapping her foot.

  “Sorry, it’s just something I haven’t talked to anyone about since my Skywatch days. Even they weren’t fully aware of what I could do.”

  “Understood, but I need to know what you’re really capable of. So far, you’ve demonstrated more powers and abilities than anyone I’ve ever heard of. I want to know why.”

  He nodded, taking a deep breath while letting his shoulders slump in defeat.

  “Actually, I don’t have multiple powers… I only have one, but a very powerful, very versatile one.”

  “Hold on. That doesn’t make any sense… I’ve seen you freeze water, create a waterspout, overpower someone I’ve personally seen throwing tanks like it was nothing, and fly at supersonic speeds, just to name a few. How can that be the result of just one power?”

  “Very simply,” he replied, pulling the stopper on his tube and letting his spheres start orbiting him again.

  “I can control and manipulate most forms of potential and kinetic energy.”

  Chapter 24

  “Wait,” she said, a confused look on her face, “How can controlling energy allow you to do all that?”

  Rick though for a second, trying to figure out how to explain what he could do. Plucking one of his orbs out of the air, he tried to explain.

  “Okay, here’s an example. If I hold this metal ball out,” he said, holding a sphere at eye level, “It’s got potential energy. It’s potential because it can do work, but it hasn’t yet.”

  “Gee… thanks for the physics lesson professor Rick.”

  Chuckling, he continued.

  “I wasn’t finished yet. If I let it go,” he said, dropping it, “that potential energy gets converted to kinetic energy.”

  Before it hit the ground, he grabbed it with his aura and caused it to start orbiting him again.

  “I can absorb and manipulate that energy through my aura to allow me to do everything you’ve seen me do. Super speed? I just push kinetic energy out behind me and absorb all the potential and kinetic energy generated by the pressure and friction in the air in front of me. Super strength? I’m pretty strong, but not that strong. With as bulked up as I am now, using strength alone, I can probably lift a car. But robbing someone of their kinetic energy when they try to hit me? Well, you can ask Thunderclap what that feels like.”

  He watched as Kaitlyn’s eyes started getting rounder.

  She’s starting to understand.

  “Wait, what about flight? I’ve seen you fly several times…”

  “Actually, you haven’t. Can I fly? After a fashion, but not what someone would consider true flight. It’s also very exhausting, especially the higher up I go. What you’ve seen me do is jump and push myself forward. Or ricochet off things to keep me in the air. For me to fly,” he said, using air quotes, “I actually have to jump into the air, convert the kinetic energy into potential energy so I don’t fall back down, then push myself forward. It takes a lot of energy and concentration. I can also latch on and leach energy off something that’s already flying, kinda like drafting.”

  “So when you held that building up,” she asked, gesturing vaguely in the air.

  “I sucked all the kinetic energy out of the building, freezing it into place. Same thing I did with the water out in the bay.”

  “Okay…” she said, a thoughtful look on her face. Looking back at him, she asked another question.

  “What about lightning? Jetlag said it didn’t have much effect on you.”

  Rick nodded before answering.

  “Yeah, that’s a tricky one. When it’s traveling through open air, I can’t do much with it. But all electricity is is moving electrons. While it won’t really hurt me, it’s not something I particularly enjoy. Hurts like a bitch, actually. If I can channel it through something else, like my staff,” he said, gesturing over his shoulder, “I can slow the current down enough to either absorb it or redirect it.”

  “What about lasers and stuff like that? Blitz said he though he hurt you with one of his blasts.”

  “That’s one of my few weaknesses. Since there’s no actual mass associated with it, I can’t feel it, nor can I defend against it. That’s why I was so hesitant to tell anyone about my abilities. One sniper with a laser rifle would be all it took.”

  He watched as she first broke into a smile, then started chuckling.

  “Now it makes sense…”

  “What does,” he asked, cocking his head to the side.

  “Your name… Newton. You were named after Newton’s laws of motion.”

  Returning the smile, he laughed as well.

  “Yeah, you probably though I should’ve been named toolbox or something similar, right?”

  Breaking into laughing, she nodded.

  “Yeah, something like that. Let’s get out of here and get some rest. We’ve got a big mission ahead of us.”

  §§§§§§§§§§§§

  The steady knocking eventually roused him from sleep. Groggy, he slowly got up, wincing when the automatic room lights clicked on. The sudden brilliance assaulted his eyes, forcing him to shield his eyes. Between being unexpectedly blinded and with someone incessantly pounding on the door, it took every bit of willpower to resist the urge to grind his teeth. Especially since the banging was continuing to get louder. To top it off, he still had a slight headache from yesterday’s fight. All in all, the day didn’t feel like it was starting off on the right foot.

  “Give me a minute, will ya! Jeez…”

  “Open up, damn it!”

  The testiness he heard in Kaitlyn’s voice pushed him over the edge. Grabbing a coin off the nightstand with his power, he mentally launched it across the room, smacking the button to open the door hard enough to crack the military grade casing and embedding the disc in the surface far enough to stick.

  “About damn time… I’ve been knocking for almost two minutes,” she snapped, stomping into the room. Without acknowledging him, or even glancing in his general direction, she strode across the carpeted surface, heading toward what he considered the only comfortable chair available in his quarters.

  “Yeah, well, in the grand scheme of things, this is the first good sleep I’ve had in nearly a week. Getting knocked out doesn’t count.”

  “Okay, fair enough,” he heard her mumble over her shoulder while she dragged the chair closer to where he was.

  “What time is it, anyway?”

  “Around oh-nine hundred.”

  Rick nodded, starting a quick stretching routine designed to wake him up more fully while working out the kinks. In response, his joints popped and crackled in protest. A sudden intake of breath made him pause in alarm. He extended his senses out, searching for danger before glancing over to figure out what had startled Kaitlyn. He tried to figure out why she seemed to be concentrating on the door so intently. A split-second later, he realized her face turning a bright shade of crimson. It took him a moment to realize he’d been too distracted to put on any clothes. Embarrassed, he quickly yanked a sheet off the bed with his power, wrapping it around his waist before moving around the room again. Grabbing his clothes, he headed into the bathroom, leaving the door slightly cracked behind him.

  “Did the techno-geeks find anything yet?” he yelled over the sound of the shower, trying to act like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

  He sensed her getting up and pacing around the room.

  “Yeah, it looks like Reaper did, in fact, keep going. The technicians triangulated their down to an isolated spot in the mountains out east. Cell phone coverage is a bit spotty there, but between mixing in HAM radio broadcasts, radio stations, and a few other sources, they were able
to pick him back up, narrowing it down to a five mile radius.”

  “Five miles? That’s a hell of a search area.”

  “True, but they’re still trying to narrow it down using a couple of satellites they’re retasking for that reason. We might even get lucky and pick them up on thermal imaging or something.”

  Rick finished brushing his teeth before responding.

  “Okay, so what’s the plan? Are we going to wait and see if they can narrow it down further? Or are you planning on us heading out before then, see if we can find it ourselves?”

  “That’s actually why I came by. Final preparations are being made right now. We’ll be wheels up within the hour.”

  “At least I’ll have some time to get some food before we leave then.”

  “That’s probably a good idea. Once we head out, there won’t be much time for eating.”

  Coming out of the bathroom, he finished getting dressed. Pausing at his shirt, he gave it one tentative sniff before launching it across the room, guiding it mentally toward the garbage. Adjusting his combat harness, he reached for his jacket, shaking it out before putting it on.

  Finishing up, he watched her reach for the button to open the door before pausing, her fingers hanging motionless only a few inches away from where the coin was jutting out of it. Turning back toward him, she gestured toward it before crossing her arms in front of her. He wasn’t sure whether the look she cast him meant she was amused or angry. With a sheepish look, all he could manage was a half-hearted shrug.

  “What? I’m not a morning person.”

  Shaking her head, she pressed the button, waiting for the door to open before stepping out into the hallway without a word. A quick glance around the room confirmed he wasn’t forgetting anything. Satisfied, he quickly following along behind her, the though of food making his stomach growl loudly. Hopefully it would be better than some of the crap he’d had to choke down in the military. One could only hope.

  §§§§§§§§§§§§

  After getting directions to the cafeteria, Rick walked slowly toward the cafeteria. Lost in thought, it took him several minutes to notice something that caused him to start paying more attention to his surroundings. At first, he thought it was his imagination, but by the fifth incident, he realized people were giving him strange looks. At first, he just assumed it was because he wasn’t wearing a shirt under his jacket. It wasn’t until he passed a group of enhanced operatives, some wearing even less than him, reacted similarly. It made him start to feel self-conscious. After being in hiding for so long, the sudden attention was starting to make his skin crawl.

  Turning into the cafeteria, he headed toward the chow line, grabbing a tray and silverware as he passed them. He started feeling an itchy sensation between his shoulder blades, like being in the crosshairs of the enemy. Turning around, noticed everyone’s eyes snap back to what they were doing when he’d first walked in. Looking at the person working behind the counter, he nodded toward the food spread out down the line.

  “What’s good on the menu this morning?” he asked cheerfully, trying to ignore the uneasy tension he felt.

  He noticed the other man’s eyes widen slightly before responding.

  “It’s all made fresh this m-morning,” he stammered out, “Or if you’d like, we can make you anything you want.”

  “Ooookay… How about a nice T-Bone, medium rare, with about five eggs, sunny side up, and a side of bacon?” he asked jokingly.

  “It’ll be right up, sir. Please… take a seat and we’ll bring it right out to you,” he said.

  Rick’s mind paused, unable to respond before the man spun around, yelling out orders before disappearing into the kitchen. Dumbfounded, he turned around, spotting several people staring at him again, reacting too slowly to avoid being caught in the act. Feeling his face getting hot from the inexplicable attention, he headed toward a relatively empty area at the far side of the room as far from anyone else that he could get, a table next to a window with a nice view of the outside. Moving through the cafeteria, he noticed people started gathering up their stuff and moving as he approached them, until there was a buffer zone several tables deep around the table he was heading toward. Sitting down, he noticed in passing that the window to the outside was heavily reinforced and fortified. He idly debated the merits of pushing the window outward and leaving if the attention got worse or turned into something more sinister.

  Pretending to look out the window, he instead focused his attention on the reflection in the window, observing the rest of the room. He noticed everyone covertly staring at him while he pretended to admire the scenery. He’d been so intent on the stares that it took him several minutes before he noticed the hushed conversations taking place. What had initially been an uneasiness had started to become a raw nerve. Unconsciously, his aura started to expand, causing loose objects to start rocking slowly. He could feel his heart starting to hammer in his chest, like he used to experience when he went into battle before his powers erupted. He was on the verge of jumping up and demanding to know what was going on when he heard the cafeteria door open. Turning slowly, he noticed everyone studying the group that had just entered. Ducking to make it through the door, he watched as Thunderclap, Scattershot, and Kaitlyn entered the room. Kaitlyn scanned the room before spotting him. Whispering something to the other, she nodded at their response before making her way over to him. Feeling the tension in the room ratchet up a notch higher, he allowed his power to latch onto anything that could be used as a weapon, preparing himself for a fight. Everyone’s eyes followed her until she got close to him before they suddenly got intensely interested in their trays again.

  “There you are,” she said as she sat across from him.

  “Yeah, uh, here I am…,” he said, the tension thick in his voice.

  She gave him a funny look before continuing.

  “Final prep is underway,” she started, her eyes narrowing slightly when a nearby empty chair slid a couple inches closer.

  “Anything you want or need before we head out?”

  Noticing her teammates relaxed posture as they made their way through the food line, his apprehension dropped down a level. Beginning to feel unsure of himself, he rubbed the back of his neck absently before motioning for her to come closer.

  Leaning forward, he glanced around the room again before he spoke.

  “Do I have something really big hanging out of my nose or something?”

  She jerked back quickly, causing everyone around her to tense up, before she burst out laughing.

  “No! Why would you think that?”

  Before he had a chance to respond, he saw the rest of the team heading their way. Grabbing an empty table with one hand, Thunderclap lifted it up and placed it closer before setting his tray down. Grabbing a chair he dragged it over before sitting down. Instead of eating though, Rick noticed several expression crossing the large man’s face before he stood back up abruptly. With a determined look, he abruptly stepped closer, standing directly in front of Rick. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he stood there a moment, the look on his face now wavering between determination and uncertainty. All the whispering that had sprung back up died off as the giant continued to stand motionless in front of him. Slowly rising to his feet, he stood cautiously, unsure of what was happening. Finally, the big man sighed, his shoulders relaxing as he nodded at Rick, extending his hand out to him.

  “I wanted to apologize for attacking you unprovoked. It was unprofessional of me and unbecoming a warrior. You showed great restrain on your part, proving you’re a man of honor.”

  Taken slightly aback, Rick tentatively reached out and shook the other man’s massive hand, his own completely disappearing from sight.

  “Uh… No apology needed. You were only doing your job against an unknown threat. One who, if I’m to be honest, probably looked like the aggressor. I wouldn’t have expected less. I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing if the situation was reversed.”

>   He watched a grin crack through the somber expression on the large man’s face.

  “Spoken like a true warrior. I am heartened to have you fighting by our side in the upcoming battle.”

  Apparently satisfied, he released Rick’s hand and returned to his seat. A collective sigh of relief nearly echoed around the room.

  “What the hell is going on?” he whispered toward Kaitlynn after returning to his seat.

  “Hmmm?”

  “Why does everyone seem to be staring at me like I’m a sideshow freak?”

  Kaitlyn glanced around before looking back at his concerned face.

  Opening her mouth to reply, the cook he’d originally talked to hurried over to him, setting his meal down in front of him. The scent of the T-Bone caused his mouth to start watering. He watched as juices slowly leaked out of the hefty sized slab of meat that appeared to be cooked to perfection. Glancing back up, he noted the concerned look on the man’s face as he waited expectantly. He cast another confused glance at Kaitlyn before looking at the cook again, noticing a worried look starting to grow on his face.

  “You might want to try a bite of your steak before it gets cold.”

  Rick flinched slightly at Kaitlyn’s remark. Hesitantly, he cut a slice off the steak before sticking it in his mouth. The flavor caught him off guard as he started chewing the most tender, delicious piece of steak he’d ever had in his mouth. He involuntarily groaned in pleasure, closing his eyes to more fully focus on the flavor and texture. Warm juices slid down his throat before he finally swallowed. Opening his eyes, he glanced at the concerned look of the chef before responding.

  “That,” he said, pointing to the steak, “is a small slice of heaven. It is, hands down, the best steak I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.”