The Syndicate - 35. Chapter 35 - Ronnie

Ronnie stood in stunned silence as Maya finished giving her report. The idea that one of the world's most experienced superheroes could just vanish was utterly terrifying. Could something even more dangerous happen next, and how did the Syndicate plan to respond?

He felt Taran's fingers tremble at the crook of his arm. Ronnie turned to try and offer any comfort he could but stopped in alarm. Something about Taran's reaction to everything felt off. There was no surprise, no bewilderment. Instead, Taran had gone gray, his dark eyes betraying a feeling of grim resignation. Almost as if the news wasn't entirely unexpected.

"Hey, do you know something about this?" Ronnie asked, leading Taran to the couch. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Taran sat down with a wince. He was looking pale and sweaty again, and Ronnie wondered if he should be prepared for another fainting spell. He quickly took a seat next to Taran.

"Okay, what I'm about to tell you has to stay in this room." Maya and Ronnie exchanged a look and nodded. "Mom was at the San Francisco office before the earthquake and had been there a while conducting a secret investigation. Mariner is also missing and under the same circumstances. This has happened before."

"What?! Control has no record of anything like that!" Maya exclaimed. "I specifically looked for related events!"

"There's a good reason for that; leadership is keeping it top secret, saying they didn't want to create a panic. I only know because I overheard my parents talking at home."

"That's bullshit! How can any of us do our jobs if we don't know all the facts?"

Ronnie sympathized with Maya's anger but also thought Taran had a point. There was no telling what would happen if the general public knew that superheroes were going missing. Between mass hysteria and crime sprees, anything was possible. Zephyr and Crimson Cosmonaut had no reason to believe the mystery wouldn't be solved quickly and quietly.

"Mariner is pretty high profile, but now a charter member of the Syndicate is missing," Ronnie said. "They aren't going to be able to cover this up for long."

Taran shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure they'll even try to anymore. But we still don't know who or what is behind this."

Maya sat down on the couch. It was her turn to look pale. "Taran, the premonition I had earlier this summer… this has to be related."

Ronnie watched as Taran mulled it over. "I agree, but it doesn't get us anywhere. You haven't had another outburst, and we never figured out what the message meant." The mood darkened, the three falling into their own thoughts. It seemed like all the powers and technology in the world couldn't help them.

Ronnie spoke up. "If no one in the Syndicate knows what's happened to these heroes, then no one is safe. It's going to keep happening." The others agreed. "But how does anyone get to the bottom of this if it's supposed to be a secret?"

"The only other people who know about this for sure are my father and the acting head of the West Coast headquarters," Taran said.

"Then we need to do what we can to help them," Maya replied. "Until this is solved, every hero in the Syndicate could be a target."

A sonic boom rumbled outside, interrupting the discussion. Ronnie felt it rattle in his chest as the sound seemed to settle over the headquarters high above them.

Taran sighed. "That'd be Dad. I better go find him." He stood up from the chair, slow enough to keep his balance.

"Here, let me walk you up," Maya jumped to Taran's side and slid an arm around his back.

It became apparent to Ronnie that he wasn't to have a role in whatever happened next. "I'll, um, be here, I guess," he said as the apartment door slid closed with a thud.