Maya Stark

Chapter 27: The Ferry

I got to the ferry first. Again, not keeping score. I hover in the air, looking into a window, Parker joining me a minute later. Friday scanned through everyone I looked at basically.

'Okay, Karen,' Parker whispered, 'activate Enhanced Reconnaissance mode. It's the guy from the bridge, right? Who's that other guy?'

'No record of any of them in the criminal database,' Friday said.

'Hey dronie,' Parker said to his drone spider, 'keep an eye on that guy. We can't let anybody get away this time.'

'He's right,' said Friday. 'If you fail and your dad finds out, he might kill you.'

'Wow, Friday, you're so supportive,' I mumble.

I fly up and land on the roof and got to the edge, peering down as Parker follows. There were four men on the front deck, who I've never seen before.

'The guy on the left is MacGargan,' Friday said. 'Extensive criminal record, including homicide. Maya, you really shouldn't be here.'

'I swear to god, Friday, stop saying that. I am very aware I shouldn't be here,' I said quietly. The guy from the bridge walks up to the other men. 'White pickup truck.' A guy nods to another and that guy walks off.

'Dronie, scan the ship for a white pickup truck,' Parker said.

'Why do you call it dronie?' I ask. He shrugs.

'This is too perfect,' Parker said. 'We got the weapons, buyers, and sellers all in one place.' There was a pause. 'Your dad's calling me.'

'What?' I ask, sharply. 'Don't answer!'

'Don't answer,' he repeats to Karen. 'Uh, I'm actually at school.' I curse in my head. They were talking when the ferry horn blares. Parker quickly ends the call. 'I'll take those!' He calls, grabbing the keys to the truck with a web. I silently curse him as he jumps onto the deck. I float down next to him, keeping my hands bright with energy.

  'Hey, guys,' he says. 'The illegal-weapons-deal-ferry was at 10:30. You missed it.'

I roll my eyes and then a call pops up. My eyes widen as Parker takes down the two nearest guys with the guns and then throws the third guy back over the ship, and slams him forward into the front of the ferry.

'Don't answer that call!' I tell Friday. I surge forward and stop the gauntlet thing on the guy from hitting Parker. I throw his arm back with my energy, making his hand get stuck.

'Maya,' dad's voice came. I silently curse Friday. She totally answered that on purpose.

'Hey, dad. What's up?' I said.

'Whoa, whoa, whoa,' Parker said to the two thugs behind us. 'Not so fast.' He grabs them with a web and throws them into a wall. 'Are you guys okay? My bad. That was a little hard.'

'Don't apologize to the criminals, idiot,' I said before I could stop myself.

'Criminals?' dad asked.

'Look dad,' I said, 'I would love to talk to you and tell you how bad I'm disappointing you right now. But I'm just a little busy, is all. End call.' The call quickly ended, and I walked up to Parker. 'My dad is going to murder me.' I watch as gauntlet guy struggled to get free.

'You know, I gotta say, the other guy was way better with that thing,' Parker said, as he reloads his web shooters.

I nod in agreement. 'I'm honestly shocked. I was expecting more of a challenge.'

Parker shoots a web grenade at a guy running towards us from behind. There's a bang from where he shot the guy and we both turn. Another man was on the floor unconscious and the no -criminal- record- guy was sanding over him, looking at us. Parker starts towards him when a bunch of people came out of nowhere pointing guns at us screaming, "FBI" or "don't move." A wing bursts out of the truck, making the agents turn it. The suit guy, with no criminal record, flies towards the deck with a weapon in his hands. The agents start to shoot at him.

'Get out of the way!' Parker and I said to the agents.

Bird guy started to shoot at us and then picks up a car with his talons. Parker moves some agents and I create a force field to block a shot from the weapon. Parker gets knocked aside by the car, which falls into the water. The man from the bridge starts running towards the door and Parker tries to catch him with a web, but the weapon snaps it quickly. I try to use my powers to keep the door closed but suit guy shoots at me and I have to use my powers to block getting shot. Parker shoots a web at the suit and pulls. The agents start firing again and suit guy blocks them with his wings and shoots back with the much more powerful weapon.

Parker puts the web on a car to get more weight and I try to help by using energy to pull him forward. Dodging a blast, Parker jumps up to the upper deck. I use one hand to pull on the suit guy, which wasn't doing much, and the other hand to protect myself from the blast with a force field. I put more energy into the force field. Parker shoots another web and gets caught hanging from the suit over the water before swinging back onto the boat. As the guy cuts the web, he blasts at me twice, making me lose my hold on him so that I could make a stronger force field. I wasn't doing much anyway, yet now I was sweating. Parker gets a good web on the front of the weapon. He uses a taser web and gets it away from suit guy. The weapon bounces around wildly and I use my powers to contain it so that Parker can cover it in webs, keeping it put.

'You're messing with things you don't understand,' suit guy said before starting to fly off.

The weapon started to bounce again and before I could do anything, laser beams shot out of it in multiple rays. Parker and I stood completely still when they shut off. In barely a second, water shoots out of the new-made-cracks and the ferry starts to split. I quickly fly out into the sky and push energy to my legs to keep myself flying. I then use my hands to push energy on either side of the ferry to try and keep it in one piece. I grit my teeth as I try to bring it together, keeping the ferry afloat, and keeping myself in the air. I resist the urge to scream.

Parker leaps between the two sides of the ship and connects webs to each side. After getting to the end of the ferry he lands on the edge of the roof. I slowly let my magic fall out and it seems to work. I have Friday scan the ship to see how long it'll last.

'He was only 98% successful,' Friday said.

As if on cue, the webs begin to snap. I quickly bring my magic back on the sides of the ferry. I was tiring and couldn't move them together. I kept the ferry from sinking and let out a short scream. They were really heavy and the energy at my feet flickered as I lowered slightly, most of my concentration on the ferry. It felt like I was holding the ferry together for ages, but it was probably only a minute or two when the pressure came off and the boats started to move together with ease.

I let the energy on the boats flicker out and I looked around. That's when I saw the suit. The Ironman suit. I was done for. I stayed hovering in the air, just watching for a minute. Drones arrived and attached themselves to each side of the ferry, joining them together. I fly and land with a stumble. My head was pounding with the still new concussion and I hadn't used my powers that much in a while. I put my back on a wall and put my hand to my head for a second, closing my eyes. My dad was welding the ferry back together and even if I wanted to help, I didn't think I could. I forgot I had limits and severely passed them. All of this, with the combined guilt, was overwhelming.

My dad flew towards me and I straightened slightly. 'Your friend is on the mast. I'm not in the mood to talk to you. Just know, I'm severely disappointed in you.' He flew off and I sighed closing my eyes tight.