The Ultimates: Against All Enemies by Alex Irvine Read Free Book Online Page A

so that other people could believe that those same ideals still existed. In other words, at what point do you grant yourself the privilege of knowing better than other people what's best for them?
    Now, I guess, Steve thought. I guess that time is now.
    "Yes, sir," he said. "I can."
    "Good answer," Garza said. He handed Steve a business card. "Memorize it." Steve did, and handed it back.
    "You know why Stark can't have it, right?"
    "I'm guessing it has something to do with politics," Steve said. All at once he couldn't look Garza in the eye.
    "Politics," Garza repeated. "Damn right. If Tony Stark built these things, the next day Nick Fury would be walking sentry duty in Barrow, Alaska. That's how things work down here." There was a long pause. Steve looked at his hands, heard again the sound of the table crushing the Chitauri's skull, hunted around in his mind for words that weren't there.
    "You know, Cap, there are people in this government who think like you do. And like I do," Garza said.
    "But there aren't enough of them, and they aren't always in the right places."
    "Someone has to stand up," Steve said.
    "Right. But that someone can't always stand up in front of everyone. Not right away. It's not the way we'd like to do this, but it's the way we can make it work. Know what I mean?" Steve didn't like it. No. That wasn't true. Part of him did like it, the part that wanted to act, to be done with rules and procedures. You saw the enemy, you hit the enemy.
    But then there was the part that knew the consequences of acting before you knew what you were doing. Last year's Hulk incident was all the proof anyone would need of that.
    "I know what you mean, sir," he said.
    "Good," Garza said. "And the name I gave you? I can't give this to Fury, for the same reasons I just outlined. He's too vulnerable. The Hill doesn't like him anyway. They think he's too much of a loose cannon. But you—you're untouchable politically. Anyone who goes up against Captain America better be planning to retire."
    "I understand, Admiral," Steve said.
    "And what the hell, we need a loose cannon here and there. Can't all be deskjockeys like me." Garza grinned and chucked Steve on the shoulder. "Time for me to move along. Good work in there today, Captain Rogers. Make this happen."
    "Yes, sir," Steve said. "I will."
    8
    Tony spent most of his morning running through quarterly reports, and then he went downstairs to see what the R&D boys had come up with for the new Iron Man prototype. And lo and behold, when he got there, who should he find but Nick Fury?
    "General?" Tony said. "To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"
    "Well, let's see." Fury started ticking off points on his fingers. "SHIELD is curious about how Stark is spending all of that money we got for you; I'm curious to see what this new toy can do; and I want to make sure that you understand the ramifications of what Washington told me yesterday."
    "Ah." Turning to the assembled tech team, Tony said, "Ladies and gentlemen, would you excuse us?" When they'd filed out, Tony sat on the stairs that led up to the prototype staging area. The new suit loomed over them. He'd had it redone in darker colors as a whim, but on the inside there were real innovations to be excited about. The new battery could deliver 15 percent better acceleration, a full eight g's, and (luckily for Tony's brain) the team had come up with better acceleration-damping gel. His turning capacity was improved, the servos and condensate hydraulics had finally caught up with the tensile strength of the armor plates... "It's a doozy," Tony said when he'd finished listing all of the new gadgetry.
    "Oh, and the force field and force beams, I'm getting 30 percent more repulsion per square centimeter."
    "Do tell," Fury said.
    "I'll be happy to outfit all of SHIELD'S shock troops with a slightly less gaudy version, General," Tony said with a mock toast. Then, as if he'd reminded himself, he added, "Listen, if we're going to have to