The Suns of Liberty: Legion: A Superhero Novel by Michael Ivan Lowell

you,” Von Cyprus said from the doorway.
         So off they went. Von Cyprus briefed Howke quickly on
the status of Veronica Soto. Just down the corridor in a high-tech hospital
room, the thirty-year-old woman with dark brunette hair was just blinking awake
as they strolled in. She had all the signs of someone who had just come out of
surgery.
         “You did beautifully, Veronica,” Howke said to her.
Turning to the others he said, “Gentlemen, this is Commander Veronica Soto. But
you’re going to know her as Velocity.”
         Von Cyprus smiled his notoriously insincere smile and
said, “We’ll have you up in no time, Commander Soto, and then we will begin
training your new limbs.
         “You’ll be amazed at how fast you take to them,” Von Cyprus added.
         Veronica looked at her right arm. She remembered
seeing it mangled and bloody just after the crash. The memory was like a
burning spear into her heart, and she flinched. Tears streaked down her cheeks,
her lips trembled.
         “The pain will go away in a day or two,” Von Cyprus said.
         As if. You weren’t there, dipshit. She
lifted her arm. It was surprisingly easy. No pain at all. She swallowed back
the tears. “Feels good already,” was as much as she could say. Then her mind
raced back to Howke. “I’m sorry, sir.”  She started to slip away. “Mission...failed...” She could feel the drugs hit her. Her eyelids fluttered. “Bitch was
on me so fast...nothing...”
         “You did a fine job, Veronica. I’m proud of you.
You’re going to do even greater things for us when you recover.” The smile was
back. “Those parents of yours will want for nothing.” Veronica’s face broke into
just the hint of a smile, and she was gone again.
          Howke turned from her. “Let’s give the commander some
rest,” he said.
         The men moved back into the waiting room. Howke had
Von Cyprus explain Project Velocity to Arbor and Ray. It was their bionic man
program, or woman, as the case may be. The military had recruited volunteers
among their active troops for robotic enhancements in the case of catastrophic
injury. Major financial incentives went along with the deal, in exchange for
human guinea pig status. He told of the failed strike on the Fletcher girl, the
crash, and Veronica’s surgery.
         “She’s the third member of your team,” Howke told
Arbor. Her call sign would be Velocity. Her new limbs would give her incredible
speed.  Even faster than the Velocosuits they used in the past—which had
often proven fatal to the wearer in a crash. Velocity, by contrast, would have
more control. She too would wear a protective suit, but she was being designed
to crash . As an offensive weapon, she would be able to run straight through
a concrete wall with no ill effects. She could travel at a top speed of 750
miles per hour with no threat of injury in the suit. And in any case, all her
limbs were robotic, made of titanium steel alloy, like Arbor’s armor.
         “A human missile,” Von Cyprus smirked.
         Arbor was immediately thinking about how he could use
someone with such abilities.
         “Now, are you ready to meet the other two members of
your team?” Howke asked them, as if they could say no.
         Von Cyprus excused himself and went back to work.
Howke, Arbor, and Ray strolled back down the hallway to another waiting room,
flanked by two dozen Guards now, who joined in from other hallways as they
passed by them. It made Arbor paranoid. Howke opened the door, and as Arbor
peered inside at the two men sitting there, all he could think to say was “Son
of a bitch!”
         Ray swallowed. “Exactly.”
     
     
    CHAPTER 12
     
     
    I t
seemed like a bad idea.
         “I don’t know,” Ward said. “How do we know the frequency
of these devices won’t interfere with the chemical mixture of the serums? I’ve
not tested these, and some frequencies have been