Zack left the Power Amplifier with Perry, who for once, didn’t ask questions. He simply took the device and went immediately to work. Zack took this as a good sign. In a few short hours, the Knightbrand suit would be repaired and he would be back on the hunt.

  He awoke that morning in a particularly good mood. The September sun continued to shine above, with the oppressive hotness slowly diminishing. The slight chill of the approaching autumn lingered in the air, but Zack didn’t mind.

  It made for great sleeping weather.

  And Zack needed all the sleep he could get after the week he’d been having.

  He almost considered skipping class today to sleep in but decided against it. He didn’t need Dirk Saber asking questions, not that a student skipping class was too much out of the ordinary. Still, why even take the chance? Besides, if Dirk knew he was skipping, so inevitably did Rachel. Every time he opened his mouth he could feel her powers at work. Zack had no idea how to smooth things over with her.

  Other than telling her the truth, of course.

  Which just left Zack right back where he started with Rachel.

  Zack turned his efforts to class as he slid his books into his bag and headed out the door. The truth was, Zack looked forward to Dirk Saber’s class. It hadn’t been nearly as useless or as boring as he had dreaded. Were all Innshadow University classes like this? Maybe he should audit some more classes, or just show up for the classes he signed up for.

  He chided himself for that very thought.

  Dirk Saber is your enemy.

  This place is nothing but a means to an end.

  The problem was, Zack wasn’t so sure these days if Dirk Saber was the one who killed his father. He had the skills and the gear, true, but not much coming up in terms of motive.

  Still, Zack could take comfort knowing he would soon know the truth. Once Perry was done repairing the Knightbrand amor, he could download the data logs, analyze them, and finally know if Dirk Saber had killed his father.

  The only problem was this left him with one ominous question.

  If Dirk Saber didn’t kill Zane Kestler, then who did?

  Zack arrived for class and did his best to put that thought out of his mind, especially when he saw Rachel handing out assignments the moment he entered the gym matted-classroom. He took an assignment. She looked at him for a brief second before returning to her duties. Zack sighed.

  Well, at least she wasn’t ignoring him anymore.

  Zack took a seat cross-legged on the floor as the lesson began. Dirk Saber led the group in early morning meditation techniques before continuing on to discuss how to deal with flying combatants on the ground.

  It was a particularly interesting discussion, given how Zack had seen both ends of the combat, both as a flier within his father’s Knightbrand armor and a sidekick on the ground. The other students seemed equally engaged with Dirk’s discussion, and before Zack knew it, the class was over.

  As the students slowly filtered out, Zack approached Dirk Saber, who himself was busy sorting papers and filing them into his satchel.

  “I really should have Rachel do this,” Dirk said as he walked over. “But she has class.”

  His dark eyes rose to meet Zack’s. “How are things between you two?”

  Zack shifted in his posture. “They’re…fine I guess.”

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  Dirk chuckled. “That means things are easier going really bad or just okay.”

  Zack squirmed once more at the thought of it. “Probably more like somewhere in between.”

  “Sounds about right,” Dirk said as he finished sorting. “What’s on your mind?”

  “You got a couple minutes,” Zack gestured to him. “I have a few things I wanted to run by you.”

  Dirk nodded. “Sure. I have an hour to kill.”

  Dirk led him back to his office. Zack immediately took a seat while Dirk shifted a few papers off his desk before sitting down as well.

  “How are you adjusting to your powers?” Dirk asked.

  “I . . . honestly haven’t done much with them,” Zack said, though he did remember using the javelin skills Dirk had taught him to clobber one of Kaine’s goons on the Alpha roof. “Though they have proved handy.”

  “You sound like you’re getting your head around them,” Dirk leaned back in his chair. “It’s a little hard. It’s not like you can just shoot lasers out of your eyes or jump really high. You have to rethink how your body works and what you can do.”

  Zack nodded. “I still can’t believe Dad didn’t tell me.”

  “We don’t know for sure that Zane doesn’t know,” Dirk raised a hand in a half-shrug. “Have you talked to him yet?”

  Not without a seance.

  “No. I don’t know what he’ll say,” Zack said. “I just…don’t know how he’ll look at me now.”

  One more conversation I’ll never have with my dad.

  “Your father’s a good guy,” Dirk responded. “He might surprise you.”

  Zack nodded once more, still deep in thought.

  “You know, my father always hated…hates the lottery. I think he's afraid of winning it,” Zack said, remembering his father’s least-favorite birthday gift. “He would seriously tear up a lottery ticket as soon as he got one.”

  If Dirk was perplexed by this seeming non sequitur, he didn’t show it. Instead, he simply laughed.

  “Yeah, that sounds like Zane,” he said. “Can’t have it too easy, can he?”

  “No, he can’t,” Zack said. “Because he wants to do everything by himself. He doesn’t want to rely on anyone else’s strength or skills - just his own.”

  “Yeah, that sounds like your dad,” Dirk said.

  “I’m just worried…he’s not going to accept my powers,” Zack said. “He’ll see them as a cheat.”

  “I think you need to give your father some credit,” Dirk said. “I’ve known Zane for a while now. He might be a bit of an oddball, but he’s still your dad.”

  Zack nodded. The pain itself clawed to get out, but Zack kept locked on the inside, even as it tore his heart. He had become quite proficient at keeping it buried under lock and key, even if it hurt all the more.

  One more conversation I’ll never get to have.

  “Thanks . . . Dirk,” Zack said. “I really needed to hear that.”

  He started to stand up. Dirk also began to stand up.

  “Any time,” he said. “Was there anything else?”

  Zack remembered the real question he wanted to ask.

  “Oh yeah,” he said. “Have you ever heard of the Extremers?”

  Dirk looked a bit perplexed, as if he was trying to recall the information.

  “Yeah, wasn’t that your dad’s old team back in the day?” he said after a brief moment of pause.

  “One and the same,” Zack said. “I just learned about them.”

  “Wow,” Dirk said. “You and your dad really have to work on your communication skills.”

  Understatement of the century.

  “I’m trying to figure out why they split,” he said. “I was wondering if it was around the time Max got sick.”

  Dirk was hunched over his desk. He suddenly froze in place and gave Zack and odd look.

  “You mean Max Mann, the Soldier of Fortune,” Dirk said. “He was on the team.”

  “Yeah,” Zack said. “I guess him and my dad got into a fight of some sort. Not sure about what. I was wondering if it was when he got sick.”

  Dirk looked at him funny for another moment. “Max Mann isn’t sick.”

  Zack looked confused. “But I talked to him. He told me he’s dying.”

  Dirk stopped. And then started to laugh, his face broken in a wide grin.

  “It’s not funny,” Zack said in a serious tone.

  Dirk seemed to struggle to stop the laughter. Then he looked at Zack.

  “Max Mann isn’t dying. He’s aging like the rest of us,” Dirk said. “That’s his big condition.”

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