There was something not-quite-right about the ships still positioned on the far side of the moon. Abe had come expecting to see SOME kind of traffic to and from the ships, if only between the vessels. But in the hours that he had been poised mere kilometers from the ships he had spotted no activity. Even the view he had into the internals of one of the ships through the odd tear in the hull showed him nothing of interest. A number of possibilities occurred to him. Perhaps the aliens were non-corporal beings or something extremely bizarre and did not show to his mass-vision. Perhaps the fleets were actually ancient relics somehow stations unnoticed for eons. Perhaps the entire crew were already on the earths surface or in suspended animation. He had prepared for this investigation with the expectation that he would have to be very careful to remain unobserved. He had even enhanced the stasis field for tighter control of escaping energy forms to remain undetectable by radar and other active sensing forms. His approach had been cautious and slow. Either it worked swimmingly or it was all moot. The ships were surrounded by some kind of energy field which warped the perceptions of his mass-vision to the extent that it was like looking through smokey glass. He could make out a little, general shapes and the like, but there was NO movement. None. Zip. Nilch. The hulls were made of some ultra-dense material he was sure was beyond whatever the locals had at their disposal. Even if the improbability of an Earth government building a fleet like this in secret hadn’t clued him in, the metal did: the fleet was almost certainly an alien one. That much he had discerned. At least the ships did not appear to be war ships, no obvious big guns poking out. But there were some things that looked like communications arrays, complete with dish-like receptor/projectors, but could very well be weapons instead. The rip in one of the ships was unusual to say the least. It looked like someone ripped a hole in the hull, no scorch marks or even hole one would expect from a weapon. Rather pieces torn or bent haphhazardly. Though what kind of being could do that kind of damage to the dense material was beyond him. Through the rip he could see a corridor running along the hull, but the annoying field interferred so much he could not see any kind of detail.

If Abe had been 20 years younger or 5 years older he would probably have attempted to enter the vessel. But he was a father first and everything else second. With a mental sigh he returned home to log his findings. Johnny was waiting as he made his approach and managed to torture every last detail out of Abe before he had even arrived. As a home-school project Abe assigned Johnny the task of building a mass-detection sensor that Abe could deposit which would keep an eye on the fleet. Johnny was settling back into the routine of homework again. The whole episode with the Dog Pack (not to mention some positive peer pressure from Torch) had at last jolted him into a renewed sense of humility. Homework was no longer beneath him and his work had returned to it’s previous excellence.

The mass-sensor had not uttered a single squeak in the week it it had been active near the fleet. Abe’s life was returning to normal, except for the testimony he had to present for the rape case. Fortuantely the government allowed those with secret identities like himself to provide taped testimonies in secret id. Had he been forced to choose between providing testimony against the rapist and protecting his family from the organizations that were after them, he did not know what he might have done. As it was he had a slick way out and he could still do his civic duty, a matter of deep importance to him. His father had drilled into him, time and again, what a glorious country they lived in and how much they owed to it. Abe was one of those people that refused to exceed the printed speed limit or jay-walk.

The phone rang and Abe picked up. It was Kline.

"Abe, listen, I think I'm getting close to finding out just who was behind your project." Kline seemed excited. "I've traced it through dozens of dummy corporations, and finally up to the higher levels of Omega Corp. It doesn't look like an official project, but the person in charge--" Kline broke with a startled sort of cry, then another voice came on the phone.

"Dr. Slyzinski? Or should I say 'Anchorman'? That's what the press is calling you since that gang incident, isn't it?"

The voice was familiar to Abe...he had to think for a bit, but then he finally got it. It was the gravity based meta who was provided as a subject for Abe's experiments. Her name was Singularity.

"Dr. Slyzinski, the people I work for want your research notes. You will either give them to me, or everyone you care for will die. Starting with Mr. Kline."

Abruptly, the phone went dead. Abe hung up and sat there paralyzed by disbelief. Kline had known the whole matter was highly dangerous yet Abe felt responsible. He called back to make sure Kline was all right but got no answer. Almost by reflex he found himself hooking up the device his mind already planning what they would need to do. He flew to the East Enders usual gym as he attempted to contact Johnny. When Johnny did not answer he began to panic. But when he got there it was business as usual. Johnny and Torch were doing some aerial practice. Torch was trying to lay a firebolt on Johnny as he flew about in dramatic sweeps trying to dodge. Relief hit him like a mental blow and he settled down to wait for Johnny to join him. As they flew through the night sky Abe explained the situation to him.

"Johnny, we are going to have to move again. The bastards sent Singularity to track me down and she killed Kline. It won;t be long before she locates our new home using a phone trace. Now that they know where we are located it won’t be long before she makes the connection between Martial Blade, Anchorman, and me. Your stasis armor and flight powers are obviously made from the same technology as KAGED. Once that happens your a sitting duck. Please, Johnny, you’ve got to quit the East Enders! If Singularity attacks, that armor of yours will do you no good. She can reach right through it and collapse your heart and lungs into a single point. Johnny, I want you out of here!"

"Can’t dad. If I run now I’ll never stop running. I want to make a difference and stop people like Singularity. I can’t run away just because my own life is in danger. You know I can’t."

"Sometimes running away is the better way Johnny. Choose your battles, find a way to fight her before you set yourself up as a target. And think of all the kids in the group! You will be putting them in danger too."

"The ones left are the ones that know the risks dad. I’ll let them know I have a target painted on my chest and they can make the decision. But I have to tell you, they’re going to want to fight. Just like me. But I’ll go along with the move. I don’t spend much time at home anyway and all my friends are here."

"I believe you are wrong about this Johnny, but I’ll go along with it."

It did not take them long to pack up the house and move. This moment was one Abe had always expected and been prepared for. He was surprised it happened so soon. He had hoped Johnny would have had a chance to become an adult before the need occurred again. And although his things were ready to go he had no money set aside and no place to go to. He was tired of running and grew determined to make a change. News of the appearance of new metas in N.Y. gave him an idea. Perhaps he could convince a few of them to form an alliance for the sake of justice and mutual protection. Abe transformed into Anchorman and hauled the stuff to a location under a dock on the river. The dim lighting didn’t bother him and the spot was ideal for concealment, especially since he could create an underwater bubble that was actually quite comfortable. The anti-gravity/kinetic energy absorbing shell felt like sleeping on air. A pity he had not thought of that earlier. He mentally added yet another item to his lists of things-that-KAGED-is-good-for. His rumbling tummy reminded him that he had no way of feeding his family. He had about $20 to his name after spending all that money on the equipment used to monitor the fleet. But the exhaustion that comes from extended pyhsical and mental stress took its toll and Abe fell asleep before resolving that particular dilemna.

The next day was a bit of a blur. For the first time in his life he found himself accepting hand-outs. The recent disaster in N.Y. meant there were a LOT of refugees and Abe’s problem with finding meals solved itself. There were plenty of soup lines and homeless shelters set up across the city and the people in line were not just the usual riff-raff. Abe and Johnny fit in well and no questions were asked. Abe caught a glimpse of Zephyr helping out which gave him an idea. There had to be others, like himself, that found themselves reluctantly on the wrong side of the law. If he could just find them, perhaps they could work together to provide a safe haven and perhaps even do a little good for the city. That night he donned his new identity and patrolled the night skys of N.Y. This time he was looking for metas fighting the crime wave that was sweeping the city. There would never be a better time for searching out metas of like mind as himself.