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Kat walked up to the door, took a deep breath, and raised her hand to knock on the door, then pulled back to wait. She sucked
air into her lungs and then stopped breathing, hoping to hear better by making less noise, which almost made her laugh. I
can hear a fly buzzing in another room with the doors closed. If he makes a noise, I’ll hear it. She started feeling
antsy as the seconds ticked by. She couldn’t hear anything on the other side of the door.
I’ve already checked the training room and the cafeteria, she thought, not acknowledging the reason why she left
his room for last. Where else could he be?
She reached out and knocked again, and then she heard it: a chair being pulled back, soft footsteps toward the door, and hand
on the door knob. Her heart beating wildly in her chest.
The door opens to reveal Elías, looking slightly tired and worn out, and she cringes mentally, hoping she isn’t bothering
him. But when he sees her, a slow smile creeps across his face. “Hey, Kat, how are you?”
Kat twisted her hands behind her back, hoping he couldn’t tell how nervous she was. “Hey. I’m good, how
are you? Am I interrupting something?”
“No, no come in.” He opened the door a bit wider and stepped aside to give her room to squeeze past him. “I
was just tossing around some ideas that have been on my mind lately.”
Kat stepped into the room, looking around timidly, and she jumped slightly when Elías shut the door behind her. Alone
at last, she thought wryly, and felt her cheeks heat up. “What ideas?”
“I have been working on something to help deal with novas like Divis, as well as giving the Nova Council some power
to ensure the fair treatment of Novas worldwide,” he said, gesturing to a small refrigerator across the room. “Can
I offer you something to drink?”
Kat wasn’t really thirsty, but a drink would give her something to do with her hands besides hold them as still as she
could behind her back. “A glass of water would be excellent. What do you mean, giving the Nova Council more power?
Like, Nova laws?”
“Well I’m not finished with it, but more like codes of conduct for Novas, things like that, at least for now.”
Elías rummaged through the cabinets as he spoke. “Sorry, I still don’t know where everything is here, have you
gotten used to your room yet?”
Kat smiled and shook her head. “I haven’t been in my room much. I’ve tried working in the labs here, but
I’m not used to them, and my notes and all my other stuff is in New York.” The corners of her mouth turned down
a bit; she didn’t really like it here in Denver. Well, really she missed New York. “So I spend most of my time
in the training areas. Will you let me look at your ideas when you have them more finished?”
“Sure.” He sighed. “Would you like to get out of here? I need to go for some fresh air.” He headed
for a closet by the door, and pulled out a worn brown trench coat.
Kat watched him walk toward the closet. “To tell the truth, I could definitely use some time away from here. Where
did you want to go?”
“Just out of here for a while. It doesn’t matter where just as long as it’s not here.”
Kat nodded as two options occurred to her. “Well, we could ask someone who works here how to get into the city and
wander around there, or ... it’s early. We could take a day trip to New York. That’s away. What do you think?”
The country stretched before them, and the view from the pilot’s seat was amazing. Of course, Kat thought the “view”
to her right was pretty amazing, as well. Best to keep your eyes on the “road,” Kitten.
“Well, the world might not think much of Divis, but when he wrote the Null Manifesto, I think he was on the right path.
No human can really understand what it is to be a Nova, so how can they come up with laws for us?”
“That’s part of the problem, though, no one’s trying to make laws for us, they’re just trying to make
us fit their laws, like they can make us go away if they ignore our differences.” Kat kept her eyes on what she was
doing, but she couldn’t help the slight heat of passion rising in her voice; she had been thinking long and hard about
this very issue for the past couple days.
“It is this disregard for people’s differences that keeps the rich in power and the poor destitute. The powerful
countries influence the governments of poorer countries and keep them that way; keep them poor so they can be controlled all
for the gain of a few, when millions are suffering for it. But Novas scare them, it can only take a few of us and we could
destroy the hold they have over the other countries, bring in money and technology to even the odds. Not to mention the novas
like Divis who can decimate an entire country in a span of a few seconds. We scare them, because we can make things happen.”
Elías‘ voice held quite a bit of passion, as well, and what really surprised Kat, a hint of anger. Passionate debate
is one thing, but anger? “I’m not sure Divis could take out an entire country in a couple seconds, but ... you’re
right about the rest of it.” Kat smiled, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
“Well, I am not sure anyone is really sure what Divis could really do. But even with seeing what he could do just last
week, I am not sure I know of anyone other than Supreme who could even come close to his power. But mankind is not separating
novas like him from everyone else, they seem to also forget StormWatch and Team Tomorrow and the other nova teams fighting
Divis and his Teragen.”
“So what ideas have you come up with so far to fix the solution?” Maybe she was just casting around for a safe
subject, but that was her original question.
“I have just started coming up with them, but I wanted to put the Nova Council in charge, let them decide what needs
to be done to maintain the peace between novas and the world. That way I am hoping to keep the Teragen from trying to rescue
anymore novas sent to Bahrain because Divis thinks that the laws of the world don’t apply to novas.”
“I understand that, but I have other reasons for wanting Nova laws. The bullshit that went on with Wycroft? What if
I hadn’t thought of a polygraph test? We’re so used to our powers that I’m not sure anyone would have thought
of a human-acceptable way around it. It just pisses me off that because baselines don’t have the ability to tell if
someone is lying or not, novas can’t use those abilities. It’s bullshit.” She glanced over at Elías, and
grinned. “Sorry. I’m getting carried away.”
“It’s alright to express what you feel, I want you to be able to do that with me. Just be yourself. I find that
you learn more about a person who tells you what they really think, than when they tip-toe around touchy subjects. Besides
I know when it's bullshit anyway,” he winked at her.
“So you do read my mind!” Kat looked over at him quickly, slightly annoyed.
“I don’t have to use my telepathy on you, Kat, you are much too passionate about this anyway.”
Kat glanced down at the controls, and felt her cheeks heat up again.
The sun was setting as Kat and Elías wandered through the streets of New York, hotdogs in hand. “Anything in particular
you’re interested in seeing? I know the city pretty well. Or do you just want to wander, see the sights?”
Elías shook his head slowly, scanning the surroundings. “Why don’t you lead the way?”
Kat nodded, and started looking around, looking for good sight-seeing opportunities. She took Elías’ hand and began
to lead him toward the ferry, then stopped.
“Can you fly?”
“Sure, what did you have in mind?” he asked, his eyebrow arching slightly.
Kat grinned. “Have you ever seen the Statue of Liberty? At night? From the air? ‘Cuz I haven’t, and
I think it would be good.”
Elías’ face was unreadable as he moved so he was facing her. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.
Kat was glad that he could no longer see her face, because she was sure her cheeks were bright red.
“Hold on,” he whispered into her ear. She felt him looking upward, and then they rose into the night sky. The
cool night air rushed past them as the city began to stretch out around them. Kat directed Elías towards Staten Island, and
they flew toward the Statue. The lights from the Statue and the city reflected on the water.
They circled around the Statue a couple of times before Kat asked Elías to bring them down to the island.
“When does the Statue close? Will we get in trouble?” Elías asked before complying.
“I don’t know. But we can’t get in trouble if they don’t catch us. Don’t worry so much.”
She surprised herself by laughing out loud. This was amazing!
A smile spread across his face, and he lowered them onto the crown of the Statue. He didn’t let her go as their feet
touched the metal surface. Kat looked up into Elías’ dark brown eyes.
Okay, Elías, I’m not a first-move-making kinda girl. You gotta do it. She felt her cheeks go hot once more,
and she looked down. But she didn’t move away from him.
“You wouldn’t want me to rush,” he said, then he leaned down to gently kiss her. She started to pull back
when she realized what he had just said - and what that meant - but then with a kind of mental laugh, leaned closer to him
to return the kiss.
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