Sam was just coming back in from a scouting of the next target when he spotted Alan leaning against the corner of his building. “How was your evening?” he greeted casually.  In the background, an announcer’s voice on someone’s tablet or computer could be heard talking about the latest news about the contaminated drugs that had been found in illegal drug havens.

“Productive. I do need to reach Grey and Jeremiah for some background information. I need to see if my target falls into the category of a worthy target.”

“I am afraid we will have to postpone that meeting of the minds. Before you continue your vendetta, I need you to meet with another group of my friends. Jeremiah has requested you speak to a group called the Mods. He wants to see if they can lend a hand with his little ‘conflict’ with the Russian crime family.  You may like them. The Mods are very unique and have a strong sense of justice.”

“Mods? What kind of group is this?”

“You will see. They are a group that has not been getting a fair shake since the tainting.” Alan replied with a sad shake of his head. “They have a compound in a hidden spot outside of town. I will drop you off there. I have to take care of some other business, but they should be interested in meeting you.”

“And why would they feel interested in Meeting me?”

“I think you will get along very well... You have both been poorly used by people in power.

“By the way, here is a document on the alleged attack on your family group.” he said as he handed Sam a tightly bound folder. “I found no record of the event. Multiple sources show that the criminals you have thus far eliminated were involved in a syndicate that did some damage to your benefactor’s businesses. In fact, they have been obstructing his efforts to corner several key markets. Most of them involve illicit medications networks.”

“Why would Thornesburry be involved in illicit medical supplies? Doesn’t he own three drug companies legally?”

“I’m not sure what his motivation might be, but I did notice that many of the medications that the illegal deals involved were made by his companies in legal operations. They also match up with the contaminated ones from a few years ago and the ones being found in drug dens all over the continent. Those drugs are doing more than you are hearing in the news.”

“Now get ready, your ride will be here shortly.”

“My ride?”

At that moment, it got windy as a black metal teardrop the size of an average bus slowly settled to the blacktop in the middle of the deserted street. The broken-down buildings quietly witnessed the vehicle land softly on skids that extended down from the fuselage at the last moment.

As the wind kicked up by the strange craft reduced its violence, a section of the hull opened up and revealed stairs that extended out to the ground. A handsome man with dark hair and icy blue eyes, wearing a dark flight suit stepped out and down to the street.

“Alan! Is that the newbie? We need to get going fast. Too many eyes on the city right now.” The man called out.

Alan pointed to Sam and replied,” He should be ready to jump aboard right now.” Turning to Sam, he remarked, “You don’t have anything pressing right now, right?”

“Why not?” he replied with a sigh. Putting his hand out to shake, Sam stepped forward. “Nice to meet you. I’m Sam. Who might you be?”

“Johnny Black,” he shot back while shaking the offered hand in a firm and confident grip like steel. “I hear I am taking you to meet the Mods.

“Go on in and buckle up in one of the back seats. We take off in a minute. Get ready for a rough ride!” Turning to Alan, he tipped the hat he was not wearing and stepped away to follow Sam into the strange craft The interior was lit with a gentle light that shone indirectly from the trim along the top of the cabin. There was one pilot seat and two seats behind it that seemed to be the passenger seating. The cabin had little spare room and had consoles and displays surrounding the pilot seat. Sam’s remote Ghost flew in after him and perched on the back of his seat.

Sam quickly strapped into the rightmost seat. The belts formed a five-point safety harness.

“So, ever ridden in a ballistic VTOL craft? We will be pulling pretty hard G’s, but we get some freefall in the middle for fun!”

“It sounds like a good time! What can you tell me about the Mods?”

“Did you hear about the scandal with the tainted street drugs? You know, the one that was supposed to be causing cancer, birth defects, and mental breakdowns? Well, that was just what they told the news crews.”

“What’s the real story then?”

“It caused all of that, and more. A few were randomly changed. Rosemary takes care of the ones who have survived the exposure to whatever the meds were tainted with. They call themselves Mods. After a big chemical spill in NYC, they moved in while everybody was evacuating. Right now, the headquarters is in Brooklyn. The other areas are mostly populated by regular people.”

“Changed how?”

“Changed to develop new abilities and weaknesses. Some were changed in less pleasant ways…”

“What about the chemical spill? Doesn’t that pose a health risk?”

Johnny’s grin was visible in the reflection of one of the monitors. “They have a few people with some very advantageous talents that the tainted meds have brought out. The area is as clean as a virgin forest at this point.

“In any case, Alan seems to think that Rosemary and you should talk. You may have some ways you can help each other. If you hit it off, you may get invited to Brooklyn!”

“So, when do we take off?”

Pointing to a cable connected to his left wrist, “We’ve been airborne for three minutes. Smooth ride huh?

“I call her the black tear. Anyone trying to catch us is going to cry in failure. She’s a custom job, made for me by one of the Mods. Haans is an artist. She has no seams other than the hatch, skids, and exhaust.”

“How did he make it with no seams?”

“Haans is able to mold any material he knows the molecular structure of like putty. He sculpts it into anything he likes. The engine systems are made by another member of the group. The computer systems were a gift from Jeremiah, but the Mods have started making their own as well. Even the power runs through special technology they invented.”

“They sound amazing! Why do they need my help?”

“They need some people to stop existing. They want to test their hacking skills, looking into your buddy Thornsberry.

“By the way, do you want to see something cool?” asked Johnny. As he said it, the displays around the cockpit lit up. Displays that Sam had not noticed in the back of the compartment showed the ground receding behind them. Sam could feel himself pushed steadily deeper into the thick padding of his seat. Whisps of clouds closed behind the craft. Looking to the side, Sam saw that the curvature of the Earth was visible as they slowly exited the atmosphere. There was a brief flash from one of the clouds as they passed. Objects seemed to be coming towards the Tear.

“It looks like we passed through somebody’s turf. Hang on, we will be dodging a bit.” 

Sam was pushed into the padding of his seat at different angles as the craft swung and swerved, lifted and dropped violently in seemingly random combinations of violent shifts of direction and speed. The display area expanded to include the walls to either side as well as the roof and floor of the cockpit. Several times, he saw streaks of smoke and fire as rockets and projectiles pursued the Tear. Many of the missiles detonated frighteningly close to the craft. Streaks of fire and smoke mixed with bright metal shards burst from all sides, and Johnny laughed as the remainder of the missiles diverted to the discharges and detonated.

Five conventional craft kept zooming past, but could not keep up with their direction and speed changes fast enough to attack. Once Johnny was able to punch through a gap in their attack pattern, he laughed maniacally as he forced the tear into a steep vertical climb. “Idiots don’t have any idea what my baby can do!” as he released a massive cloud of chaff and detonated a powerful explosion that threw smoke and debris for hundreds of meters in mid-air. On the displays, the aircraft that passed through the smoke and chaff were painted with a vibrant red light. “Hah! Got you now!”

Just as Johnny said this, the clouds around the detonation drifted away to show a cluster of four drones that bristled with missiles. The marked planes began evasive movements as the drones fired a volley of death at them from close range. Only two were lucky enough to avoid instant impacts. Those two made it to treetop altitude before the second volley of missiles scored a series of impacts on each. That was the last Sam saw of their attackers as the Black Tear cut through the cloud layer and entered into the twilight of the upper atmosphere. Leveling out, they pulled a lazy turn until Johnny was satisfied with the trajectory.

It took them another twenty minutes before the Black Tear began to gently dip down towards the earth. The light, drifting feeling Sam noticed, as they dropped fast enough to almost feel weightless, was hard to get used to.