“Alive?” Woodstock looks aghast. “Bullsheeit. We saw the ol’ girl die.”
“We never really confirmed it,” I say, head spinning. While I have to admit that part of me is relieved, I’m also filled with dread. If Nemesis is alive, more people are going to die, and it’s our job—my job—to stop her. The problem is that I don’t know if I can, and not because of our previous bond, though that weighs heavily; it’s because I’m pretty sure we’re not capable. A nuke might do it, but we’d be killing a lot of people along with her, and there’s no guarantee that even that would work. There’s still so much we don’t know about her. She’s not of this Earth, after all. “We didn’t even know how.”
Collins crouches beside me. “Jon...I know you had a connection with Nemesis.” She glances at Maigo. “You both did. But she was dead. Whatever you’re feeling now is—”
“It’s her,” I say, a trace of annoyance in my voice. I’m not used to being doubted. Granted, up until this very moment, I would have balked at the idea of Nemesis’s revival. But I know what I felt. “She was in pain.”
“Fightin’ with the Devil, most likely,” Woodstock says.
Maigo shoots him a look so serious that he raises his hands and backs away. “Let’s try not to forget we’re talking about a monster who killed thousands of people and very nearly ate me an’ Betty, on more than one occasion.”
“We thought you’d taste bad,” Maigo whispers, and given the lack of reaction, I think I’m the only one who heard. Nope. Not quite. Collins’s eyes have opened a touch, but she’s staring straight ahead, restraining her response. The three of us will talk about it later. Maybe.
“Is it possible you’re feeling something else?” Cooper asks, ever the pragmatist. “Something new? Something created from Nemesis’s remains, the way that Nemesis was created from the corpse of Nemesis Prime?”
It’s a good thought, but the connection was too familiar. I shake my head slowly.
Watson pulls at his hair a bit. Nemesis’s rebirth is triggering some anxiety I haven’t seen in the man since he became a father. He calms when Cooper puts her hand on his shoulder, but he still voices his concerns. “There are contingencies to activate. Protocols. But we don’t know where she is. Don’t know where she’s going. What should we do?”
“I think,” I say, standing to my feet and pulling Maigo up, “we should ask the only person who doesn’t seem surprised by the news.” I turn to Alessi. “How long have you known?”
“Eight months.”
“Eight months?” I so want to punch her, but she’d probably kick my ass, and that would get me nowhere but a hospital room...and chocolate pudding. Tempting.
“Penis envy doesn’t suit you, Jon,” she says.
I cough and sputter. Not only has she just said this in front of two teenage girls, it’s the kind of accusation that, when defended adamantly, makes the accused look guilty.
She doesn’t give me time to figure out a defense. “Just because we can do what you’re not able, doesn’t mean we’re working against you.”
“Who are you working for?” Collins asks, and I’m relieved the conversation is moving away from my manhood.
“I’m still employed by Zoomb, though I’m currently on leave. But Endo...that’s complicated,” she says.
“Like the ending of Lost complicated, or peace in the Middle East complicated?” I ask the question, but then realize the answer. “Whoever is paying the bills, he’s not really working for them, is he? You mentioned Endo’s allegiance earlier. It was never to Gordon or Zoomb. It was always to Nemesis.”
She doesn’t deny it, but refuses to reply.
“And you’re okay with that?” I ask. “I know he’s your half-brother, but is your allegiance to him so blind that you—”
“He doesn’t know I’m here,” she says. “I came to warn you off because...you’re good people.”
This confession takes me a little off guard and puts her ribbing in a new light. Maybe she’s not trying to get under my skin? Maybe she’s just palling around? “Would Endo have stopped you from warning us?” I still don’t really know where he stands, and I have serious qualms about his moral compass.
Her frown tells the answer before she speaks. “I didn’t want to give him the chance to make that call. It would have...strained our relationship. And I haven’t heard from him in a week, which means he’s pre-occupied.”
“And you won’t tell us where he is?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “He’ll get in touch when its important.”
“Well, thanks for the warning,” I say, “but if Nemesis is alive, we can’t—”
“They’ll come for you.” She looks at the girls. “For them.”
“We’ll take precautions,” I say. “But this is what we’re here for. This is what we do.”
“They do it better,” Alessi says.