The Daughters of Men

Chapter 18

Mara stood, in shock and silence, in the middle of the library of the Thatcher Building. Her knees were shaking, her face sweating profusely, her eyes beginning to water. The way the strange man had looked at her, the confident way he had told her to just 'leave', the soft voice that mismatched his rugged appearance. In her brief time of attempting to apply her abilities for the greater good, she had yet to use them in opposition to someone; in fact, she still had not. She was not actively opposing the rugged man, but indirectly foiling his plans. But it was as close to an enemy as she had made, and for Mara, it was too much. The overwhelming feeling that she had immediately lost control of the situation had practically destroyed her, it seemed.

Dropping to her knees, she started to cry. Mara seemed to cry a lot. Her first memory was of her crying, at her birthday party. Her Aunt Robbyn had bought her a dollhouse, not a cheap one either, and she was so excited for Mara to get it. It was wrapped with a real big bow, standing above the other presents like a tower overlooking the small city beneath it. No one knew what it was except Aunt Robbyn. When it had finally come time to open presents, Mara had grabbed the big one first and opened it hastily to reveal the same dollhouse she had gotten the day before. The simple act of receiving the dollhouse had not immediately made Mara burst into tears, however, it was when she had looked at her Aunt Robbyn to see the crushing defeat obvious on her face. The feeling of excitement, particularly excitement that hinged on another being happy about an act you did, too often lead to the most heartbreaking sadness anyone had ever known, or at least that was how Mara had always felt.

Now she cried because she imagined that same look on Holly's face. If Holly still had a face, that was. The thought made Mara weep harder. Holly and Tanya were both still there, at the hotel, with a strange man wielding a machete who would not die. Neither of them had any powers; Tanya was a smart person, but she was blind and knocked out and all of her tricks seemed to be gone. Holly was not the same though; Holly, Mara thought, was not necessarily smart, but certainly clever. She was scrappy, good in a fight and a fast-thinker, but Holly would never be able to design a plane or hack a computer like Tanya could. No, Holly would try and fight but even as good at fighting as Holly was, not even she could beat a man who would not die. No one can beat a man who will not die.

The library doors opened and Secretary Christie walked in, his knees barely bending as he moved. Mara gave him a small look, unsure of what to think or do or say. It was impossible for her to understand why Christie was there at all. The Secretary of Defense slowly got down on the ground, bending his knees as best he could, a few feet away from where Mara was sniffling.

"I know that I don't really know you," Christie started, his voice gravelly and rough. "I haven't actually met you yet, I don't think. But I know who you are. You're Mara Lidell. The Owl." The young woman gave a confirmatory sniff. "Yeah, I thought so. I was the one who recommended you to the group. You were an instant hit. Everyone thought it was a good idea. We sent Cutler out to come get you immediately. I don't know if you know this, but we came to you second. Cutler's girl, she was the christening member of the team, but you were our second pick. We hadn't even got the hacker girl at that point. I thought you would be an important member of this team."

Mara looked over at the Secretary of Defense. He was older, his silver hair kept very short on the sides, but longer on top, spiked up in a failed attempt to draw attention away from his thinning locks. His head was almost a perfect rectangular shape, his bulbous nose and ever-present frown being the only imperfections on his otherwise handsomely aged face. The man looked as though sitting pained him.

"I used to be a drill sergeant. It was fine, but it wasn't my favorite part of the military. It was too much yelling and not enough teamwork, not for me anyway. But sometimes it was useful. I got to show others how to use teamwork and teach them to build each other up. You get to watch as these kids, from all different backgrounds, come together to form a cohesive unit. To make them part of a team to the point of complete unity. It was beautiful." Christie stopped once more. He rubbed the back of his neck for a moment. "I need you to do better."