Legionnaires
Foresight
by Martin Maenza
My name is Zac Ammen, and I work as an airspace controller at one of the shipping ports just outside of Himalayas, one of the largest cities in Earth’s western hemisphere. Sitting at a comp-console five days a week, helping various crafts takeoff and land successfully isn’t the most exciting of occupations, but it does bring in the creds.
Still, it was hardly the way I had planned to spend the rest of my life.
I had dreams, big dreams. Like so many teenagers, I wondered what it would be like to be a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
For almost three years, I had watched them on the holos, thrilling to their exploits as they stopped criminals, averted disasters and made the 30th Century all the better a place to live. The team was growing quickly from the original three founders, and it seemed like they were holding open auditions for members a couple times a year.
Upon my sixteenth birthday, I talked my grandparents into letting me come out for a visit. In truth, I was more interested in coming halfway around the world for another reason. I can still remember the day vividly, nearly eleven years ago. It’s not a day one easily forgets.
I was full of excitement as I arrived in Metropolis and soon dressed in a homemade costume of my own design. I had kept it hidden in my luggage on the trip over to North America. Then, that day, I had told my grandparents I was going out for some sight-seeing and took the costume with me. I changed in a rest room at the hover-bus station once I got into town.
The pants were orange with black stripes, flared out at the bottoms, with a hint of the black boots underneath. The jacket was a matching orange with wide shoulders, open so that a black tank-top was visible underneath. Looking back at it now, it was probably a little bit advanced fashion for the time, but that all fit in with the image I wanted to project. It tied to my powers and the code name I had given myself.
I approached my destination, the now famous inverted yellow rocket ship with the red fins. The sign above the door simply stated ‘super-hero clubhouse’. I thought to myself how cool it would be to hang out there, to hang out with those amazing heroes. I was pretty certain all the rest of the applicants who tried out that day were thinking the exact same thing.
We all waited in a group, about ten of us or so, that morning. Some folks were a little more impatient that others. All of us were nervous, though we never would have admitted it. That just wouldn’t have been cool.. For about an hour we waited for the heroes to come out.
Finally, they did so.
There was Chameleon Boy, the orange skinned Durlan dressed in blue. His look was rather exotic, with pointed ears and antennae at the top of his head. A blob like form sat perched quietly on his right shoulder. I think it was his pet or something.
Beside him was Ultra Boy, the brown haired youth in red and green. He was chatting with the raven haired beauty known as Phantom Girl, a ethereal vision all dressed in white. She smiled and laughed at whatever it was he was saying.
The green skinned genius known as Brainiac 5 was discussing some project with the blonde haired Element Lad. The former wore a purple lab uniform while the later was dressed in a costume of pink and white.
And there was the legendary Superboy who came from the ancient past to participate in adventures with the team. The history holos mention his exploits as a grown up in his own time. He was considered one of the greatest heroes of Earth back then. Seeing him here, now, so young was odd but exciting. Superboy was introducing a pair of young men around to the others. One was blonde and the other was red haired. Both were dressed in clothes so out of style that they had to have come from the past with the Boy of Steel on this visit.
Finally, Saturn Girl stepped from the clubhouse. As the current leader of the group, it fell to her responsibilities to call the event to order. “Everyone,” the blonde young woman in red and white said, “if you could form a line, single file, we’ll get this program started.”
The Legionnaires and the two guests gathered about in a half circle before the clubhouse as each applicant came up in turn to present themselves and demonstrate their abilities.
I was at the back of line, which was fine by me. I wanted to concentrate on what was going on, to truly observe it. I hoped that perhaps some insight, some revelation would come to me. Something to show me how that I could do better than the others. Show me how I could be the next lucky teenager to be inducted into the group.
I wasn’t truly paying attention to the events as they unfolded, in part because I had a strong inkling as to how they would turn out for the others. I was trying to look past them, to get a focus on my own performance. I was uncertain, but I was not about to let that deter me.
“Why do you call yourself Spider Girl?” Saturn Girl asked of a red haired applicant dressed in a black skirt and a green top. The young woman’s collar had a web-like motif in white and black.
“I’ll demonstrate, Saturn Girl,” she replied confidently. “Watch me will my hair to expand…” And, indeed, the tendrils upon her head stood up and moved as it they had a life of their own. Then, this modern day medusa focused on two of the assembled heroes. “…expand into a web that can be used to entrap foes, like this!”
“Hey!” Phantom Girl exclaimed as the hair lashed out at her. The red locks were everywhere, grabbing and squeezing hard.
“Stop, before you strangle us accidentally!” Brainiac 5 growled. As if that would have been an issue; everyone knew the genius had developed his own force field belt to protect himself.
“Ooolp!” Spider Girl frowned. “It’s g-getting out of control!” Indeed, her hair was acting out as if it had a mind of its own, not responding to her initial requests. With some difficulty, the young woman was eventually able to retract her hair-strands, much to Phantom Girl and Brainiac 5′s relief.
“Rejected!” pronounced Saturn Girl, hardly to my surprise. “We wouldn’t want you around , in our hair, or vice versa!” The criticism might have appeared harsh to the young girl, but it was to be expected.
When called forth, the next applicant appeared. “I am Double-Header,” the man with two bald skulls rising up from his neck and shoulders said.
The other head then added as if picking up from where the first left off: “My motto is, ‘two-heads are better than one’! Ha ha ha.”
The Legionnaires all looked with surprise by this guy. What was with him? What could he offer to the team?
Before Saturn Girl could ask for a demonstration, the two heads began to argue!
“Of the two heads, I’m the smarter one!” said the right one.
“No, you aren’t, big-mouth!” countered the left one.
“Yes, I am, stupid!”
“Conceited ape! I hate you!”
“Rejected!” shouted Saturn Girl, breaking up the bickering back and forth. “Not only would your uniqueness be worthless to the Legion, but your constant arguing would drive us daffy!”
Double-Header skulked away, still talking with himself. “Now see what your yackety-yak has done!” the right side said.
“I’d punch you except it’d hurt me too!” the left said admitted.
Again, I was hardly surprised by this rejection. Even without my special abilities, I could have seen that one coming a mile away. There were a few others ahead of me, so I continued to wait patiently.
I closed my eyes and tried to envision my own audition. I wanted to focus, to get that extra added bit of confidence. If I knew how it would turn out, perhaps the butterflies in my stomach would subside. But things were not coming into a clear focus, not a good sign.
I was so lost in thought, I barely heard Saturn Girl call out. “Next! You there. In the orange.”
I snapped back to the moment, a bit unsure. It was now time. Time to go for it and give it my all. There was no turning back. I approached the group of Legionnaires.
“What is your name?” Saturn Girl asked.
“Zac,” I said nervously. “Zac Ammen.”
There were a few chuckles from the others. Saturn Girl ignored that and continued. “That’s your code name?”
“N-no, no,” I said. “I thought…. Foresight. I call myself Foresight.”
“Well, Foresight,” the leader said. “Why don’t you demonstrate for us what you can do?”
“Well,” I started to say, “that’s kind of difficult to do.”
“Difficult?”
“Yes, see, my powers… they’re not visually dazzling or anything.”
Saturn Girl frowned a bit, growing slightly impatient. “Then what can you do?”
“I can see into the future,” I said.
There was murmuring amongst the other members of the team. That seemed to have gotten their attention.
“I see,” Saturn Girl said. “We met another person with powers along a similar vein earlier this year. We offered her membership, but she declined as she felt her control over her precognitive abilities could still use some work.”
“Let’s put him to a test,” Chameleon Boy suggested. He whispered to the creature on his shoulder and then picked up some paper and a writing instrument. “Here, Foresight,” he said as he handed the applicant the items. I’ve instructed Proty II here to change into a specific shape at my command. But, before I do, I want you to write down what he will become.”
“Uh, OK,” I said. I took the paper, closed my eyes and concentrated.
*** “Proty, do it!” ***
The image was blurred for a moment, so many possibities for the shape-shifting creature. Then, the image zoomed into complete focus. Got it! I quickly wrote down words on the paper. “Ready.”
“Proty, do it!” Chameleon Boy commanded. The little creature suddenly became the exact image, height and weight, of its master.
I smiled and turned over the paper confidently to show the group. On it, I had written the words ‘Chameleon Boy’. There was some surprised murmuring from the group.
“A lucky guess perhaps,” Brainiac 5 said skeptically.
“How about another test?” Element Lad suggested. “We’ll be having a meal in a few hours. Let’s see if he can tell us what will be served.”
I closed my eyes and concentrated for a moment, then let out a sigh. All that came to me was a simple image, clear and focused.
*** “You want the works on this rocket dog, kid?” ***
I frowned.
“Something wrong?” Phantom Girl asked.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s just, well…”
“Well what?” Ultra Boy said. “Out with it. Is there a problem?”
“Kind of,” I had to admit. “See, I can see the future, but its limited. My future sight that is.”
“Limited?” Saturn Girl asked. “How?”
“Well, I guess its limited to my future, or really the events that might happen near and around me.”
It didn’t take Brainiac 5′s advanced intellect to come to a conclusion. “You cannot describe the meal we shall eat because you won’t be present to partake in it,” he said flatly. “Correct?”
I dropped my head slightly. “Yes, I suppose so. Plus…”
“Plus?” Saturn Girl asked.
“Plus, its kind of limited to how far in the future I can see too. The closer something is and the more likely something is to occur, the sharper and more focused my visions are. If something has a high degree of improbability around it, its not as focused. Eventually, if I concentrate, I can see the outcome, but sometimes then its only moments before it occurs.”
This brought disappointed looks to the faces of most of the group. Saturn Girl frowned too. “Rejected,” she said. “A power like yours is too limited to benefit the team.”
I nodded. I had a strong feeling this would happen. As I was waiting with the others and trying to see into my own future, it was jumbled and unfocused. That should have been the first hint that failure was probably going to occur.
Like the others who were rejected that day, I too was given a flight belt as a consolation prize, a keepsake of my try out attempt. And though I kept it all these years, I rarely used the belt for its intended purpose. It looked like an ordinary belt, and I would on occasion use it for that. But I didn’t ever feel like using it to fly. It didn’t seem right. Too much of a reminder of the shattered dream.
So, I put away the costume forever and buckled down in my studies like my parents wanted. I eventually got my degree and was hired on to work at the space port. And that’s where I have been for the last four years or so. For the most part, its been uneventful.
That is, until today.
I was working the tower with my good friend, Onbe. It was getting to be towards the end of our shift. This was a usual light traffic period at the port, so we filled that time with some idle chitchat about this and that. Anything to get us through the work day.
“I’m hoping to catch a few magno-ball games when the tour comes through,” Onbe said. He paused, waiting for a response. When none came, Onbe started to snap his fingers in front of my face. “Zac, hey! Earth to Zac!”
*** “Oh my God! That tanker!” ***
My head jerked forward. “Whoa!”
“What is it?” Onbe asked.
The vision had been clear, very clear. They usually never came to me out of the blue like this. I mostly have had to concentrate on them before, but this one cried out to me like a warning shot. “I…I don’t…”
The comm panel came to life as a ship approached. “This is Planetary Delivery to shipping port H-Delta-Nine,” a firm feminine voice came across the speaker. “Are we clear on landing pad three? Over.” We knew the voice fairly well; Lela and her crew often passed by this way with drop-offs or pickups.
“I wonder if they’ve gotten that cantankerous robot of theirs fixed. He can be so insulting.” Onbe flicked a switch to broadcast back to the ship. “Roger that, Planetary Express. You are clear on landing pad three. Over.”
“Affirmative.” The ship’s approach registered on our radar screens as it made its descent.
I felt uneasy, a bit nauseous. I stood for a moment and walked to the window of the tower. Something caught the corner of my eye below, and I looked down. Oh no!
“What are you doing?” Onbe asked as I dove quickly for the console.
My fingers fumbled for the relay. “Planetary Express, Planetary Express!” I shouted into the microphone. “Abort landing! Repeat, abort landing! Over!”
“Copy,” came Lela’s voice. “Though why?”
“Zac, are you insane?” Onbe asked.
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion just outside the tower. Onbe ran to the window where I’d been standing moments before and looked down to where the sound came from. “Oh my God! That tanker!” he exclaimed as he saw dark smoke filling the air and flames bursting from the wrecked vehicle. “It just explode on landing pad three!”
Over the comm system came Captain Lela’s voice. “What is going on down there? We saw an explosion from our current altitude.”
My friend turned to me and saw not an expression of surprise but more of one staring off blankly. “How…how did you know?”
*** “Move it! Move it! We have two minutes!” ***
I snapped to. Another vision, as clear as the first one. This was getting intense! Something big was going down, and I might be the only one who knew it.
“Zac? Zac!”
“Onbe, call the Science Police! Now!” I shouted as I started for the door.
“What is it? What’s going on?” My friend was clearly confused. He wasn’t the only one.
“I don’t know!” I admitted as I darted out of the room. “But I’m going to find out what!”
I was acting totally on instinct at this point. In my vision I had seen a man in a structure shouting orders to two others, but they hardly looked like they belonged around a space port. They did not wear uniforms of the port staff, nor did they look like delivery crews or the like. They had an odd, unscrupulous look to them. Something told me that they were involved with the explosion moments before, but why? I didn’t have time to stop en-route to the ground floor to try and focus my future-sight. If these men were involved with the explosion, they were concerned about how much time they had left. Who knew what they could be up to?
I had to find them and stop them from doing whatever it was.
Exitting the tower on the ground floor, I saw the HazMat-bots had already moved in. Spraying foam from the tanks on their backs, they were quickly dealing with the tanker fire. The explosion had to be a distraction, but for what?
That’s when I noticed that the doors to hanger ten were open. A recent shipment of supplies for Medicus-One were stored there, awaiting the morning transport. That had to be what the men were after! I made my way across the facility, trying my best not to be seen in case there was a look out. I moved around the side, got down low and carefully peered in a side window.
There were the three men from my vision, loading supplies into the back of a hover-truck. On the floor, unmoving, was the guard. Probably killed with one of the blasters holstered about the men’s hips. “Move it! Move it!” one of the men shouted. “We have two minutes!”
Here I was, unarmed and outnumbered. I knew if I could just delay them long enough that the Science Police would arrive. They could then handle the situation.
Grabbing my comm box, I called up to the tower. “Onbe, it’s Zac!”
“What are you doing? What’s going on?”
“No time for that! I need you to override the door controls on hanger ten now. Close ‘em and lock ‘em down! Got that?”
“Got it!” Onbe replied.
Satisfied, I peered back into the window as I heard the large metal doors starting to move. The voices of the men started to rise as they realized they were about to be trapped. One pulled his weapon and fired at them, but it did little to stop the inevitable closing. The metal doors clanged shut.
“Damn it!” one man with red hair shouted, no doubt the leader. “Ortz, get on the controls now! Get them open!”
“Right,” the small dark haired one said, rushing over to the control panel. In a moment, he had the cover off and was working the wires.
Oh no, I thought. Not good. I moved about the side of the building to where the closed doors were. I decided to take a moment and try to see if I could see how this would play out. Using my powers, I tried to peer into the future, the immediate future.
The possibilities danced about my brain. Images first and the occasional snippets of sound. As the focus shifted, some dropped off while others became sharper.
*** …not the…***
*** Got…***
*** “No, not the engine!” ***
*** “Got him!” ***
Two images fought hard to come into focus, each with equal strength.
I was snapped out of my uncertainty as I heard the door locks disengage. The comm box in my hand squawked with Onbe’s voice. “They’ve overridden the controls! Zac? Zac!” The sound of an engine revving up could be heard inside the hanger as the doors slowly started to open.
I barely had time to dive to the ground for cover as the doors burst open, ripped off their track as the hover truck rammed into them. It was like a mad Parillion Roc bursting out of its egg! The doors fell broken to the ground; the truck skidded to the side from the impact with the doors.
One man was behind the wheel, another in the passenger seat. The third man ran out of the hanger and jumped in the open back end of the vehicle. “Go! Go!” Ortz shouted.
The driver saw me standing in the path, got a more angry look upon his face and gunned the engine. The hover truck barreled straight towards me, keeping as low to the ground as possible. He planned to run me down!
I wasn’t a fast runner by any stretch of the imagination, and I don’t think it would have mattered if I was. If I stayed on the ground, I would have been run over or crushed against something for sure. I only had one option, so I took it!
“He’s on the hood!” the passenger shouted as I leapt up onto the flat portion of the front of the vehicle.
“I see that, stupid!” the driver and leader of the group said. “We got to get rid of him!”
The vehicle swerved from one side to another as the driver tried to shake me from my position. I slipped a bit, almost sliding off the front, but my foot caught hold of the front bumper. Keeping my leg straight, I was able to stop the slide. With my hands, I grappled for some indentation or seam or something to hold on to. All the while, the rushing wind formed by the fast moving vehicle pushed against me.
“Zac? Zac?” Onbe’s voice continued to call on the comm box. No doubt he had observed some of this from up in the tower. There was no way I could respond; doing so would mean moving my hands and that would cause me to fall to the ground.
“I can’t shake him, Jebit!” the driver scowled. “Do something! Get him off!”
“Right!” the other man said. As I stared in the glass, I could see him pull out his blaster weapon and aim it.
“Idiot!” the driver yelled, slapping it down. “You shoot out the glass, and we’re cut to shreds!”
“Oh, right,” Jebit replied. He opened the window on the passenger side and leaned out slightly. “Let me just get a good shot at him!”
I heard the blaster discharge, and a beam of energy zapped through the air. It barely missed my left shoulder; I could feel the air temperature change about it as the shot whizzed past. There was a second shot and a second miss.
“Zac? Zac! Is that blaster fire?” Onbe asked.
Jebit fired his weapon again. This time, it connected to the upper part of my arm. “Got him!” the gunman exclaimed.
The pain shot through me. It was unbearable! I had to fight every instinct to grab the hurt spot with my other arm and cradle it. But doing so would release my grip. I guessed we had to be going 70 kilometers per hour or more, ever increasing. A fall at this speed and the increasing height would do even more damage. I could see now why the Legionnaires used those flight belts; mine would have come in handy right about now.
“He’s still there!” the driver exclaimed. “Can’t you hit anything?”
“I hit him once!” Jebit said defensively.
“Hit him again, idiot!”
“We got company!” Ortz shouted from the back.
In the distance, I could hear the sound of the approaching SP’s, their sirens wailing. Onbe must have gotten through to them. They made good time.
“Forget the guy! Let’s get out of here!” the passenger said.
“I’m in charge of decisions and driving!” the red head snapped. “You take care of the witness! Now!”
Jebit scowled and leaned back out the window. He hardly took aim and just fired randomly at me.
My left hand lost its grip; the pain above too much for that arm. I felt myself roll and slide to the driver’s side. I twisted about, my right grip still firm. Pain shot up this arm as it twisted about. My feet kicked the hood and side of the vehicle.
“Finish him!” the driver sneered.
“Right, Betes!” Jebit said. He fired again and again. The laser blasts bounced off the hood and whizzed past me. I didn’t know how much longer my luck could hold out.
Then one of the shots punctured the hood!
“No! Not the engine!” screamed Betes.
The vehicle jerked and convulsed, its acceleration dropping fast. The stray shot must have been enough to severe a hose or system or something.
The truck stopped moving forward horizontally and started to plummet down.
Fast!
I closed my eyes, in part so I couldn’t see the ground rush up on me and in part to try and see if I could see how things would end up. I concentrated with all my might, but the visions wouldn’t come.
This had to be it.
I began a silent prayer.
Suddenly, my body jerked as it was grabbed.
I opened my eyes to see a dark haired figure all dressed in red. One of his arms was wrapped around my waist. The other hand held the bumper of the vehicle. As he flew, unencumbered, a blue cape trailed on behind him.
“Mon-El!” I exclaimed, recognizing the hero.
“Good thing I happened by,” he said with a smile. “Care to tell me what’s going on?”
I quickly gave him the synopsis of the situation. By the time I was through, he was touching down back on the ground. While he put me down gently enough, he let the truck thud hard, shaking up the criminals inside.
The Science Police quickly had the vehicle surrounded.
Mon-El squinted at the vehicle. “I think you’ll find the stolen goods in back,” he said confidently, no doubt thanks to his enhanced vision powers. “And this man can use some medical attention.” He looked at my arm; the laser blast had torn through the material of my shirt and into my flesh. “It’ll probably hurt for awhile, but you should heal up fine.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Thank you,” Mon-El said. “You acted very bravely back there, trying to stop these guys from escaping.”
“I… I’m no hero,” I said sadly.
“Today you were,” Mon-El said with a smile. “Its not just powers or costumes that make a hero. Anyone who goes out of their way to help others, that’s a hero. Next time, though, try not to put yourself at risk too, OK?” He gave me a little wink and then flew off.
I smiled, even as the SP’s brought me over to a medic. Next time? Who knows? Maybe there would be a next time or maybe not.
Only the future knows for sure.
