True Dark

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘I’m just saying, with Captain Freedom here in New Millennium, maybe we don’t really need people like Cygnus and Twilight.’

  Penny stopped her trolley and cocked her head. The voice had come from the next aisle over. A woman’s voice and the slight New York accent suggested someone older.

  ‘The Captain used to keep things safe in New York,’ the voice went on. ‘We didn’t have much trouble back then and I don’t see why we need more than him now.’

  ‘You’ve got your rose-tinted specs on, Gloria,’ another voice said. Another woman, younger and likely from somewhere more local originally. ‘I’ve noticed that about you. Everything was always better back in New York.’

  ‘Well it–’

  ‘Except that the crime rates were higher than here, and Captain Freedom wasn’t the only Ultra in the city. He didn’t really patrol that much, not like Cygnus does and Twilight did. It was all the Ultras no one bothers remembering that did the work on the streets. The Captain spent most of his time jetting about to handle big problems, the kind of thing that made the headlines. We haven’t had a successful bank robbery in this city in over a year. The criminals don’t even try these days. That’s thanks to Cygnus and Twilight, bless her soul.’

  ‘The Captain’s patrolling now, isn’t he? You’ll see. Crime in this city is going to stop with him here. We don’t have to rely on aliens now.’

  ‘Sure, Gloria. And I’m going to win the lottery next week.’

  Penny pushed her cart forward again. At least some people were on her side. How many more of them were out there thinking of Cygnus as an alien, not to be trusted? She hurried down the aisle, wanting her shopping trip done with. Being out among the populace of New Millennium City had lost its appeal.

  ~~~

  ‘You have got to be kidding me?’ Penny grumbled.

  ‘I am sorry, Penny, but I am not,’ Denny replied. ‘Analysis of the statistics for the last two weeks of phone calls made to and from this building indicate that someone has tapped the phone line and may be watching our internet traffic.’

  ‘Wonderful. Send a message to Mink via UltraNet. Let her know that calls to us may be monitored. I don’t want her giving anything away by accident.’

  ‘Message sent. I have checked the calls which may have been monitored and almost all of them were June talking to her agent. Our connection to the Union is, of course, encrypted and it is highly unlikely that anyone listening could break that encryption.’

  ‘Thanks, Denny,’ June said, ‘but why are they tapping our phones?’

  ‘How easy was it to detect, Denny?’ Penny asked.

  ‘I suspect that a conventional computer system would not spot the discrepancies I am seeing in traffic,’ Denny replied.

  ‘So it’s an official tap, which means NMCPD, UID, or FBI. Probably. As to why… I have no idea, but they cut the NMCPD feed because of “security concerns.”’

  ‘This is getting ridiculous,’ June stated flatly. ‘What else are they going to start doing?’

  Penny sighed. ‘I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.’

  ~~~

  The idiot with the sap was almost falling over himself in his rush to give himself up to the two cops who had turned up to take him off Astraea’s hands. The guy he had hit before Astraea had got to them was being taken to hospital, but it was more of a precautionary thing than a necessity. Especially since Astraea had already healed the bruising.

  ‘Thanks, ma’am,’ one of the cops said as his partner bundled the thief into their patrol car. ‘We’ll take care of him.’

  ‘My pleasure,’ June replied, but her eyes were on the black town car about a hundred feet down the street. Two men were sitting in it, both in suits. As she lifted into the air, the driver spoke, paused for a second, and then started the engine. It was, she thought, odd behaviour. ‘Cygnus?’

  ‘I’m here, Astraea,’ Cygnus replied immediately over the radio. They had decided to stick firmly to codenames; if people were tapping phones, they might eavesdrop on radio comms. The radios used encrypted signals, but that encryption was not uncrackable.

  ‘I think I’ve got a couple of agents watching me.’

  ‘That wouldn’t entirely surprise me. They’ve got a drone in the air tracking our movements. It’s about twelve thousand feet up.’

  ‘How did you spot that?’

  ‘Saw the guys in the car and got suspicious. NMCPD don’t have a drone like that, so this is UID or FBI.’

  ‘What are they expecting to see us do?’

  There was a laugh, broken up by the microphone’s noise-cancelling filter. ‘I have absolutely no idea. Maybe they’re expecting us to meet up with alien sleeper agents.’

  ‘Damn, this is getting crazy,’ June said, her eyes now on the streets below as she looked for more trouble.

  ‘Yes,’ Cygnus replied. ‘Yes, it certainly is.’

  30th August.

  By general agreement, Heather went out to meet people who came to the Fortuna Investigations office unannounced. Jacob’s office was cooled down to a temperature he could comfortably work in in shirt sleeves, so he did at least sometimes. Or he worked in his undersuit anyway, which was rather tight and not the kind of thing you wore in public.

  So, it was Heather who stepped out of her office to find two men in blue suits standing in the reception room. She pegged them as law enforcement of some sort more or less immediately, but she smiled and set off with the usual spiel. ‘Good morning and welcome to Fortuna Investigations. How can we help?’

  Both men reached into their jackets and produced ID. The one standing slightly closer to Heather – white, clean-cut, strong jawline, blonde hair – spoke. ‘Special Agents Bradley and Oscarson, FBI. We need to speak to Mister Jacob Dannon.’

  ‘Just a moment.’ Heather picked up the desk phone handset and punched a button. She waited. ‘Jacob, there are a couple of FBI agents here to see you.’ She listened and then hung up the phone. ‘He’ll be out shortly. Coffee?’

  ‘No thank you, Miss Bryant,’ Bradley said.

  Heather nodded and sat down at the reception desk. FBI. What did the FBI want with Jacob? They were not going to tell her, so she was not going to ask. The UID generally dealt with Ultras, so this was not directly related to Jacob being one. What else would the FBI want with him?

  After a couple of minutes, Bradley broke. ‘We could go into Mister Dannon’s office.’

  ‘I wouldn’t recommend it. Jacob’s body needs to be kept below fifty Fahrenheit. The air conditioning in there is set to about forty to let him work comfortably and you’re not dressed for winter. He’s putting his suit on so he can come out here without freezing us all. It shouldn’t be too much longer.’

  Almost on cue, Jacob opened the door and stepped out into the reception room. Bradley took an involuntary step back and Heather suppressed a smile. Jacob was pretty imposing. He had been imposing before: six-foot-one and a hundred and eighty-five pounds of muscular body. Now his glowing, all-blue eyes counterpointed his smooth, dark-brown skin and he was dressed in what amounted to segmented blue-and-white armour. Even without the helmet, he looked badass.

  ‘Special Agents Bradley and Oscarson,’ Heather said. ‘They need to talk to you.’

  Jacob regarded them with literal cool, blue eyes. ‘Generally, it’s the UID who come around to talk to me.’

  ‘This is not a matter involving your status as an Ultrahuman,’ Bradley stated. ‘Could we speak in private?’

  Heather was starting to move when Jacob said, ‘Heather’s my partner. I don’t keep secrets from her. We’re both ex-UID, so security clearance shouldn’t be an issue.’

  ‘As you wish. The FBI is concerned about a number of visits you have made to the People’s Republic of China since November of last year. Could you explain why an American citizen has been visiting an enemy state, Mister Dannon?’

  Jacob’s eyes glowed a little brighter, but the way his lips quirked, Heather got the impression it was amusement rath
er than annoyance. ‘Actually, that would be an associate member of the Union of Ultrahumans visiting the Republic of China under international treaty. Under that treaty, the correct protocol would be for you to request the mission parameters and after-action report from Union HQ.’ He held up a hand as Bradley opened his mouth. ‘I’m feeling generous. Cygnus and I have been following up leads on the whereabouts of Twilight. She’s been sighted in a number of Chinese cities. We’ve been to those cities.’

  ‘You expect us to believe that you’re just over there looking for someone believed to be dead?’ Oscarson asked. He was taller than Bradley and a little more heavily muscled, but he was just as blonde and blue-eyed. His chin showed a slight stubble at eleven a.m. He seemed to be the more belligerent one, which was likely why Bradley did more of the talking.

  ‘Who believes she’s dead?’ Heather asked. ‘The Union is quite sure she’s alive and there are eyewitnesses to her appearing in a number of locations in China. She’s not the sort of woman you get mistaken-identity problems with, especially when some of the witnesses had her under their own roof for a month.’

  ‘Besides,’ Jacob said, ‘the People’s Republic of China really doesn’t exist at the moment. The place is falling apart. Maybe you should read the UoU reports on our trips. Quite a lot of useful intel there, if you want to accept it.’

  ‘Thank you, Mister Dannon,’ Bradley said, his face shifting into what might have been a genuine smile. ‘We’ll request the details as a formality, but that should be just fine. Thank you for your time.’

  ‘Weird,’ Heather commented when the two agents were out of the room.

  ‘Yeah,’ Jacob replied. ‘I’m going to drop Cygnus a message on UltraNet. If they’re looking at me, they may be looking at her.’

  ‘And if they’re not, why not?’

  ‘Something like that.’

  ~~~

  ‘Da, da. Keep shirt on.’ Svetilo padded to the door of her apartment in bare feet, wearing a short blue wrap which Zoe had bought her for her birthday. The buzzer had gone twice and was working on a third time when she opened the door to see two men in blue suits standing outside.

  The nearest flipped open his ID. ‘Special Agents Bradley and Oscarson, FBI. Could we speak to you, Miss Zuyev?’

  Stepping back, Svetilo ushered them in. ‘What is this about? Take seat.’ Really, she had to work on her accent; Zoe encouraged her to slip far too much.

  ‘We’ll stand.’

  She was not going to dissuade them, but she was not going to join them either. She dropped onto the sofa, adjusting her wrap and noting that only Bradley had the expected reaction; Oscarson just looked vaguely annoyed.

  ‘The FBI is currently investigating certain visits to the People’s Republic of China by the Ultrahuman Cygnus,’ Bradley went on.

  ‘Yes. She looks for Twilight. Her and Frostburn.’

  ‘We have reason to believe there may be more to it than that. Considering your status in this country, we would like you to seriously consider staying away from Cygnus until this matter is resolved.’

  Svetilo’s eyes flared a brighter blue and her concentration on her speaking pattern went right out the window. ‘You think Cygnus is spy? Are you all smoking drugs you capture?’ She got back to her feet and, rather like Jacob, the six-foot blonde Russian looked down on the two FBI agents. ‘I have good relationship with FBI. I provide intelligence on Soviet infiltration here during riots and other times. I am trained as spy, yes? If Cygnus was one, I would know.’

  ‘We’ve received information–’

  ‘What information? What source?’

  ‘That’s none of your business,’ Oscarson snapped.

  ‘Is my business. You make it my business. You tell me to stay away from trusted friend without evidence.’

  ‘We could make life a lot harder for you, Zuyev.’

  ‘Da, you probably could. And when you do, I return favour. Wonder how many channels I can get interview on?’

  ‘That’s enough, Mal,’ Bradley said. ‘You’ve been warned, Miss Zuyev. If you continue to associate with Cygnus, we’ll be forced to review your status. Thank you for your time.’ The two agents headed for the door and Svetilo followed them, fuming quietly.

  ~~~

  ‘Jacob and Dom?’ June said, her tone somewhere between annoyed and confused. ‘What the Hell is going on?’

  ‘Really not sure,’ Penny replied. ‘I figure this means that the goons following us and the phone tap… Denny, are the phones still being tapped?’

  ‘Yes, Penny,’ Denny replied. ‘The Union of Ultrahumans has not received a request for the reports on your Chinese trips as of this time. I checked.’

  ‘Thanks. Okay, so the FBI is following us, tapping our phones, and trying to scare off our friends. Why?’

  ‘I have insufficient data to hypothesise.’

  ‘That was rhetorical, Denny. They have to know that Jacob and Dom were going to contact us. Revealing the investigation like that only makes sense if the purpose of the investigation isn’t really to uncover espionage.’

  ‘Then what?’ June asked.

  ‘That, my dear June, is the question.’

  ‘If you start wearing a deerstalker hat, I am going to divorce you.’

  5th September.

  The apartment building Fleet’s parents had found to house their daughter was no more than half a mile from the college. Right up in the north-west corner of Uptown, it was not up to the standards of the housing deeper into the area, but it was still way more upmarket than Brian figured he could afford. Fleet’s parents were not exactly rich, but they were a couple of rungs higher up the ladder than Brian’s. The building was only ten storeys – low for Uptown – and not too old. All the rooms seemed to have small balconies outside their windows. It was a bit bland in a designed-to-be-unique way, but it looked clean and kind of nice. And Brian had been leaning against a streetlight outside it for fifteen minutes.

  The arrival of a U-Drive van – a fairly small one, thankfully – caused Brian to straighten up and do a mental stocktake prior to the now-inevitable parental meeting. He was shifting boxes, not having dinner, so he had worn a T-shirt and jeans, but it was one of his better, plain T-shirts and his best black jeans.

  Mister Shelley turned out to be a tall man, clean-shaven and square-cut. He had a strong jawline and a fairly fit, lightly muscled body, sandy-blonde hair cut short, and blue eyes which scanned over Brian as though assessing a new recruit: Mister Shelley was really Major Shelley, and Brian thought he should probably remember that.

  Striding forward, Major Shelley thrust out a hand. ‘You must be Brian.’

  Brian took the offered hand. ‘Yes, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Major.’

  ‘No, it’s not. I remember meeting my first girlfriend’s parents for the first time. It was terrifying.’

  ‘Well…’

  ‘Stop scaring him, Cary.’ The speaker was Fleet’s mother, a pretty woman significantly shorter than her husband. Her hair was more like Fleet’s, a shimmering blonde, and her eyes were green. Fleet’s eyes had that strange rainbow colouration, but you could see both of her parents’ shades in there. Mrs Shelley walked over and offered her hand. ‘I’m Ellie.’

  Fleet was walking up behind her mother, dressed in shorts and a cropped T-shirt, and the ubiquitous running shoes. Fleet was almost always in running shoes. She looked incredible with the late-summer light shining in her hair. Brian did his absolute best to keep his mind off what they might be doing once the box-shifting was done with.

  ‘Let’s get inside,’ Major Shelley said. ‘Then we can work out where things are going and plan our campaign.’

  ‘That’s my dad,’ Fleet said, ‘always with the battleplan.’

  Tactics did seem to be the major’s thing, even if he was a doctor. He waited until they were in the apartment – up on the top floor, but there was an elevator in the building, thankfully – before turning to Brian. ‘So, obviously we know where Josie met yo
u. Also obviously, it’s your secret. You don’t have to worry about us saying anything. What can you do?’

  Brian glanced at Fleet and she gave him an encouraging nod. ‘Uh, well…’ He raised a hand and crackles of electricity danced between his fingers. ‘I can sense and control electricity. I can use it offensively, but it’s a little dangerous. I’m working with Doctor Ultimate to see whether I can do other things with it.’

  ‘And your parents don’t know?’ Mrs Shelley asked.

  Brian gave a little grimace. ‘My father doesn’t really have a high opinion of Ultras. I’ve been putting off telling him his son is one.’

  ‘It’s probably better they find out from you rather than on the news or something.’

  ‘Yeah… Sooner or later I’ll have to tell them.’ Maybe. If he really had to.

  ‘Enough seriousness,’ Major Shelley said, flashing Brian a grin. ‘I just needed to know. Call it professional curiosity. I’ve taken more of an interest in Ultrahuman biology since Josie started outrunning our car. Now, the boxes are labelled, so… Let’s work out where all the rooms are.’

  ~~~

  Fleet stood on the sidewalk and waved her parents off in the van, Brian standing beside her and also waving. His heart was hammering in his chest because Fleet was holding his hand right now and she had been giving him this look she sometimes got for the last hour. It was the sort of look he imagined some people got when contemplating the unwrapping of a particularly tasty chocolate.

  ‘Okay,’ she said, turning a grin on him. ‘Come on. Mom and I already made the bed.’

  The apartment was not large, but it came with the full array of rooms. The lounge was big enough for the little flat-screen TV, a cabinet for that to sit on, and a sofa. The view from the balcony was not too terrible. The kitchen could fit three people comfortably enough, if they were friendly. The bathroom had a moderately large shower, but no tub. The double bed and wardrobe fitted in the bedroom with enough space to move around. The furniture had been moved in by a delivery company on the previous Friday.