True Dark

by Niall Teasdale

  Hendry looked up at the hole in the ceiling as she walked through to the lounge. ‘This place is… unique. Pretty amazing, but definitely unique.’

  ‘Yeah. That’s pretty much everyone’s attitude.’

  ‘Hello again, June,’ Hendry added as the lounge came into view.

  ‘Marta,’ June replied, putting down a magazine. ‘What brings you out here? What brings you out here looking like you’ve been watching bad spy movies?’

  Grimacing, Hendry pulled off her hat and glasses. ‘I didn’t want anyone to know I was here. I suppose this was overkill.’

  ‘Not sure,’ Cygnus said. ‘Denny, have they got a drone in the air?’ Waving Hendry to a sofa, Cygnus walked over to sit beside June.

  ‘There is a drone operating at fifteen thousand feet,’ Denny replied. ‘It is observing an orbital flight plan approximately one mile in diameter.’

  Hendry’s eyes widened. ‘Someone has a drone watching your house?’

  ‘The FBI, probably,’ Cygnus said. ‘We’ve been looking for Twilight in China. The Feds seem to think that I’m a Chinese spy now.’

  ‘That’s what– Okay, that sort of fits. I came to tell you that city government seems to have it in for you, but I guess that’s the least of your worries.’

  ‘I’m not really that worried. Is this why ACPN seems to be toeing the line? Coltrane got a comment from me about that robbery and it wasn’t used.’

  Hendry nodded. ‘There was some sort of meeting in the afternoon after the bank was hit. I don’t think there were any police there, but there were people from the mayor’s office and Captain Freedom. I wasn’t, but I… obtained the general gist of things.’ She got a smile from Cygnus: everyone had their little secrets. ‘Basically, we were going to be frozen out of local press calls if we didn’t give out the story they said we should. I’m not sure that would’ve done it, but Captain Freedom threatened to never give the station another interview.’

  ‘That explains a lot.’

  ‘I’m just wondering how they hope to ever get a comment out of Cygnus again,’ June said. She rose to her feet. ‘Do you want a coffee, Marta?’

  ‘Uh, yes, please. I don’t normally get up this early on a Sunday. I don’t think they’re worried about Cygnus. They might be. At some point in the future. Maybe even now, but you’ve seen the Captain, right? Heard him talk? He’s charismatic, kind of charming.’

  ‘No, I pretty much think he’s a jerk. Certainly a liar.’

  ‘Huh?’

  June glanced over her shoulder. ‘I just have this feeling. I don’t think he’s telling the truth about being unconscious all that time. Plus, he tried to pick me up at Red’s birthday party. He’s one of those men who thinks “lesbian” means “woman waiting for just the right man to come along.” I don’t like him.’

  ‘You never mentioned that,’ Cygnus said.

  ‘Didn’t want to bother you. You already knew what I thought of him.’

  ‘True, but, June aside, he does tend to charm people, I agree, Marta.’

  Marta nodded. ‘I think he talked management into thinking losing him was way more important than losing anyone else. Now you told me about the Feds, I assume someone mentioned “national security” at some point too.’

  ‘I shouldn’t be surprised.’

  ‘Why does everyone in authority seem to hate you?’ Hendry was frowning. It seemed like a genuine question.

  ‘Because they’re scared of her,’ June replied before Cygnus could say anything. ‘They’re scared of Twilight too. I bet they’re secretly as pleased as Punch that Twilight’s not around currently.’

  ‘Mm. Is there any news about her? You said you thought she was in China?’

  Cygnus nodded. ‘She is in China. She keeps moving and we don’t get word of sightings until too late because China’s a mess at the moment. We’ll find her. We’re getting closer. I think we’ll find her sooner rather than later. And then the government can be scared of both of us again.’

  18th October.

  Hanging over Friendship, Cygnus looked down on the pattern of lights which was about all that was visible at ten thousand feet. Somewhere below her, Frostburn was walking through the park, primarily serving as a deterrent to anyone who might have had the idea of mugging someone. He did not catch too many criminals, but he had seen more than a few unhappy-looking people in dark clothing walking smartly away from him rather than risk anything with an Ultra about. To the north, Skadi and Astraea were watching the streets of Deale and Churchton. Both of them caught more: they were sneakier, one way or another. Things would be better when they had Twilight back, but they had pretty good coverage, when all was said and done.

  Cygnus was about to head out for a loop around Uptown and Downtown when she heard the voice behind her.

  ‘You’re not wanted here.’ Turning in the air, Cygnus found herself looking at Captain Freedom, hanging in the air behind her. She mentally kicked herself for not paying better attention to her surroundings. ‘You’re not needed, and no one wants you. Get out of this city. Get out of this country. Go back to wherever the Hell it was you came from.’

  ‘New Jersey,’ Cygnus said.

  ‘Yeah, sure.’

  ‘I was born in a town in New Jersey, but this is my home. More than yours.’

  ‘Well, they don’t want you here any more.’

  Cygnus smiled. ‘I know you’ve persuaded the city government that they don’t want me. The people aren’t so sure. You don’t have them all on your side. Getting my comment cut from the ACPN piece was stupid. All that did was start people speculating. Some of them can think for themselves and they’ve seen what I can do. They aren’t so sure that you can solve all their problems singlehandedly. New Millennium City is my home. America is where I was born. I’m not leaving.’

  He turned in the air, paused, and looked back at her. ‘You’ve been warned.’

  ‘If you try to do anything to June again, I’ll find a way to kill you that you won’t wake up from.’

  His eyes narrowed, but then he simply turned and flew away.

  22nd October.

  The morning was going swimmingly. The morning news had revealed the latest polls and Kilmer was well ahead. This was despite the fact that other polls indicated that Hart had slaughtered her opponent in the debates. The last of those had been on Wednesday and, either despite or because of Kilmer’s political experience, Hart had come across as having policies while Kilmer had soundbites. It was possibly very clever: never really say what your important policies are and everyone can think you are going to give them what they want.

  Penny had decided that she wanted to beat something up. The people of America would be voting in an incompetent bigot in two weeks and then maybe she would be considering leaving the country. June had suggested some sparring. Penny, now Cygnus, had considered this a bad idea in some ways: she was afraid she might get angry enough to do some real damage, but June did not even need super-powers to know that she could defuse Cygnus’s anger when she wanted to. By midday, they were both naked and lying in a rumpled heap on the floor mats in the gym.

  ‘I still think we should consider what would be required to move to the Antarctic,’ Cygnus said.

  June turned her head and pursed her lips at her partner. ‘I am not moving to Antarctica. Penguins are not big on pinups, for one thing. Don’t make me come over there and start another round.’

  Cygnus grinned. ‘Maybe I just said that so you would.’

  ‘Maybe, but–’

  ‘A vehicle is approaching with UID plates,’ Denny announced.

  ‘Now?!’ Cygnus shrieked. ‘God! We probably smell like hookers.’ She rolled upright. ‘Where are my shorts?’

  ‘Uh, I threw them over by the free weights,’ June supplied.

  Somewhat dressed – her sports bra and briefs were on the small side since June was the only one intended to see them – Cygnus headed down to the front door and opened it just as one of two agents she did not recognise s
tepped out of their car. She was about to say something when she saw the telltale shimmer in the air which indicated that the force screen was going up around the house.

  ‘Cygnus,’ Denny said, ‘I have detected an in-flight missile headed in this direction.’

  ‘What? Shit!’ Cygnus looked out at the two agents still getting out of their car. ‘You two, get undercover! There’s–’ And that was when something moving very fast plunged down from above and slammed right into the UID sedan. The car exploded. Bits of it hit the force screen along with one body. Burning gasoline rained down on the nearby trees. Cygnus turned back to the house. ‘June! Get down here. You might be needed.’

  ‘I have identified the approximate launch site,’ Denny said. ‘I believe the missile was launched from the Solomon Airfield.’

  ‘Okay, I’m going out there to see if I can spot anything.’ There was another shimmer in the air as the screen collapsed. Cygnus grabbed her earpiece from the table beside the door.

  ‘Be careful,’ June said as she dropped to the carpet beside Cygnus. ‘If they’re throwing missiles around…’

  ‘I’ll take precautions,’ Cygnus replied as she lifted into the air. Below her, June rushed out to see whether there was anything she could do for the fallen agents.

  Cygnus had made it to about three hundred feet and was starting west when Denny’s voice cut in over the radio. ‘I am detecting a humanoid form approaching you from the north, Cygnus.’

  Cutting her flight speed, Cygnus turned and spotted the white shape approaching. Silently, she began reconfiguring her power set. ‘Are you coming to help?’ she yelled at Captain Freedom. The shout stopped him about twenty feet away and, for a second or two, he just hung in the air, smiling at her.

  ‘I am detecting another missile launch,’ Denny said into Cygnus’s ear. ‘I am currently unsure, but the size and flight characteristics suggest a Night Lance. ETA is now nine seconds.’

  ‘Someone seems to be firing missiles from Solomon Airfield,’ Cygnus called out. ‘They blew up a UID car, possibly two agents as well.’

  ‘No,’ Freedom called back. ‘You destroyed the UID vehicle. I came up here to stop you doing more damage.’

  ‘You think that story’s going to fly?’

  ‘Yes. The UID have evidence that you killed two people in Uptown last night. You resisted arrest. I don’t even have to kill you.’

  ‘Oh?’ Cygnus smiled. ‘You think that Night Lance is going to do it? There’s just one little problem with that.’

  The roar of rocket engines was suddenly very loud as the missile shot toward the two Ultras. Freedom had a fraction of a second to realise what was about to happen before he was hit in the stomach and a lance of high-temperature, armour-piercing plasma exploded through his stomach. The light was briefly blinding and then Cygnus could see Freedom, still hanging in the air though most of the front of his costume was gone, along with a lot of the tissue beneath it. She could actually see daylight through his torso, but the man was still functioning.

  ‘I can’t be detected on cosmic energy scanners,’ Cygnus said. ‘The missile was homing on you.’

  ‘Looks like I’ll have to kill you myself then.’ The holes in his flesh were already beginning to heal. Cygnus raised her arm, spread her fingers, and fired a beam of incandescent energy at him. It hit him squarely in the chest, blasting clean through him, and his flight pattern faltered. ‘You…’ he got out before he started falling.

  It was not going to keep him down for long. The man had almost instantaneous regeneration, even when he was technically dead, and she was pretty sure that he was just unconscious. The impact with – she grimaced – someone’s pool house roof was not going to make much difference. She had less than ten seconds before he was going to be coming after her.

  ‘He’s down,’ she said, ‘but he’s not going to stay that way. I need a plan.’

  ‘He thinks you’re a threat,’ June responded almost immediately. ‘There has to be some way for you to stop him. Can you get him into space, or out to sea? He’d be powerless once he’s away from American soil.’

  ‘Yes. Maybe. But if I kill him… He’s worked up some sort of frame job. Maybe it relies on me being dead and unable to defend myself, but if not… And anyway, if I kill him, I really will have to leave the country.’

  ‘What else can you do? He’s going to keep coming after you until you’re dead. You can’t survive a full-strength punch from that bastard.’

  Cygnus looked down and spotted ‘that bastard’ rising up from the hole in the roof of the pool house. He spotted her hovering and accelerated up toward her. ‘If you think of anything, let me know,’ she said. ‘He’s coming after me again.’ She took aim again, waiting until the last moment to fire. The beam lanced out, missing him as he jinked aside, and the unfortunate roof took another blast. Steam rose up through the hole in the tiles as the water beneath boiled, but by that time, Cygnus was already moving. She had changed her ‘gunship’ configuration to allow for Fleet’s instantaneous acceleration and she was half a mile away from him before he knew she was leaving. Turning, she unleashed a massive stream of energy in an arc across his flight path. He tried to dodge it again but could not avoid all of it. For a brief instant, Captain Freedom seemed to burn as bright as a star, and then he was tumbling back down toward the ground.

  ‘This is ridiculous,’ Cygnus said. ‘I can knock him down, but he’s just going to get back up again. He hasn’t a chance in Hell of getting close enough to hit me.’

  ‘I… I might have an idea,’ June replied.

  ‘But I’m not going to like it?’

  ‘Not really. Let me see if I can set this up first. Can you keep him busy for a while?’

  ‘I think so. You know, if I can’t beat him, Astraea can’t either.’

  ‘I know that, but June Summerfield might be able to. Just keep him busy.’

  On Cygnus’s radar, a blip appeared. It was not really like a blip on a radar scope, but a small, fast-moving shape appeared in her vision. He was keeping low, trying to use the ground clutter to stay hidden until he could come up at her. Well, that was not going to work. Another blaze of energy ripped out toward the ground and the radar image dropped off as he crashed. ‘Keeping him busy,’ she said.

  ~~~

  ‘Hendry.’ The word had come out a little harder than Marta had intended, but she was annoyed. As far as anyone could tell, Cygnus and Captain Freedom were duking it out over North Beach and Marta was at her desk reviewing scripts for another exciting programme about the latest Ultrahuman fashion trends in California. The rumour was that Cygnus had gone nuts and the Captain was trying to bring her in, and Marta did not believe a word of it. But no one was listening to her, so…

  ‘Marta,’ June said from the other end of the phone connection, ‘it’s June. Would you like the scoop of the century?’

  ‘You know what’s going on with Captain Freedom and Cygnus?’

  ‘I know exactly what’s going on, but I can do better than that. How would you like to have close-up, live video of what happens when she lets him get close enough to hit her? Because right now, this fight is kind of boring. She keeps blowing him out of the air, and he gets up to try again.’

  ‘What do I have to give to get it? My right arm? The soul of my firstborn child?’

  ‘I just need to make sure this goes out to as many people as it possibly can, live. No delays. If this is recorded and played back later, Cygnus, or me, or both of us, are going to be dead.’

  Marta bit her lip. ‘Give me ten minutes.’

  ‘We can manage that. Hopefully.’

  ‘I’ll call you back.’ Shutting off the phone, Marta got to her feet, undid two of the buttons on her blouse, and headed for the station manager’s office. She might have to sell her soul for this one yet, but it might be worth it.

  ~~~

  ‘There are now four fighter aircraft in the air,’ Denny said. ‘They are not closing their distance. They appear to be in a hol
ding pattern above Andrews Air Force Base.’

  ‘Probably on standby,’ Cygnus replied. ‘Oh, I see them, yes. Not a problem for now. Keep an eye on them for me.’ She rechecked where Captain Freedom had got to, decided he was getting too close, and shattered the sound barrier as she jetted off to a new position over the southern edge of Friendship. She hit him with another blast of high-energy particles as soon as he broke cover and watched as he smashed into the trees on the edge of town.

  ‘Cygnus?’ June’s voice.

  ‘I’m here. He’s regenerating again. It occurs to me that I need food and water and sleep, and the toilet. He doesn’t. I don’t want to die taking a potty break.’

  ‘Hopefully, you won’t have to. I want you to lead him back here.’

  ‘And then?’

  ‘And then you get inside and I… I talk to him.’

  ‘He doesn’t strike me as being a reasonable person, love.’

  ‘No,’ June agreed. ‘That’s kind of what I’m counting on. But if you could stand ready to blast him again if I’m wrong about this, I’d feel more comfortable.’

  There was movement on the ground at Freedom’s last crash site. Captain Freedom was back on his feet and would be lifting off in a second. ‘Okay. I’ll be there in a few seconds. It’ll take him a bit longer since he doesn’t have my acceleration.’

  ‘I’ll be waiting.’

  Cygnus watched the Captain climbing toward her, still grimly determined it seemed. He knew he just had to wear her down. He would, she figured, be perfectly happy if she just packed up and left. He wanted her out of the way. Why? A question for later. She pointed herself toward home and took off with a crack of exploding pressure. In six seconds, she had covered the three and a half miles. She pulled a right-angle turn to go down and then came to a stop that defied at least two laws of physics before dropping to the drive and rushing toward the house door.