Night Mistress

Chapter 15

How we got from the party back to the house was a blur.

JARVIS turned on the TV when we stormed into the lab. He must have switched it to another news station, one that was covering the news story about Gulmira.

I couldn't look at it. Instead I oversaw the finishing touches to my suit.

"The 15-mile hike to the outskirts of Gulmira can only be described as a descent into hell, into a modern day Heart of Darkness."

Tony sat on the couch. He was working on the pulsors in the arm. Behind the couch, I was working on my boots.

"Simple farmers and herders from peaceful villages have been driven from their homes, displaced from their lands by warlords emboldened by a new-found power. Villagers have been forced to take shelter in whatever crude dwellings they can find in the ruins of other villages, or here in the remnants of an old Soviet smelting plant."

I tightened the metallic latches on my boots. Once they were tight enough I moved to grab the rest of my gear. Tony was too wrapped up in the news broadcast to notice.

"Recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters referred to by locals as the Ten Rings."

My legs were halfway in the suit's pants when Rasa's face graced the screen. Not gonna lie, hearing that name and seeing Rasa's face pissed me off. The only saving grace was the eye patch over his eye- the one I shot in that cave. That was the definition of satisfying.

"As you can see, these men are heavily armed and on a mission. A mission that could prove fatal to anyone who stands in their way."

Tony got up off the couch. He walked over to the lab's kitchen. While the news played I was putting on the blue pants.

"With no political will or international pressure, there's very little hope for these refugees. Around me, a woman begging for news on her husband, who was kidnapped by insurgents, either forced to join their militia."

Tony fired at the lights across the room.

"Desperate refugees clutch yellowed photographs, holding them up to anyone who will stop. A child's simple question, 'Where are my mother and father?'"

I latched on an arm blaster. As the light Tony had shot dangled from the ceiling, I blasted the other end.

Tony turned to me. He looked pissed off.

"There's very little hope for these refugees, refugees who can only wonder who, if anyone, will help."

"No." He told me.

"Dad. I need-"

"No."

"You don't know what I was going to say."

"Yeah but I know that face. It was the same face you made in that damn cave." Tony raged. "You're not going!"

"Too bad!" I argued back. Raising the arm blaster again, I fired on the TV. It had Rasa's face on it again- poetic. "We go together. That the only option."

"Yes there is! You staying here, that's the only option!" Tony yelled.

I scoffed, grabbing the utility belt I had stocked up.

"Rebecca!" Tony warned.

And suddenly, all I heard was Stane's voice. All the times he had called me 'Rebecca' since I arrived in this world. All the times he has set me up to die!

"Miss Stark." JARVIS's voice broke through my rising panic.

It was needed. Helpful. I let out a relieved sigh. "Yes?"