‘If you want this to be believed, you’ll allow a scan of–’
Twilight held up a hand and smiled. ‘You don’t want to be inside my head, and I can’t allow it. Everyone has secrets they don’t want revealed. I can get pretty much any of them. Any of them that anyone reveals in the dark, in the shadows. Like, for example, where the drug distribution facility allowed to operate for years within the DC reserve is. That was easy, actually, because a lot of people knew it. But it comes at a cost, and you don’t want to know what that cost is, Delphine.’
‘She’s telling you the truth, Delphine,’ Viviane said. ‘You should really stop trying to get into her head, or I may decide to let you.’
‘I have not been…’ The psychic trailed off, frowning at the table. ‘I have orders.’
Hammond glared at her. ‘You idiot. Without a warrant? It invalidates everything!’
The door chose that moment to open and the slim, majestic form of Brightstar came through it. She was not one of the Union’s Grand Council, despite the fact that she quite often acted like one. That included acting as the spokeswoman for them, generally because she was attractive, diplomatic, and popular. Right now, she was wearing a frown. ‘I’m afraid it’s much worse than that, Senior Special Agent,’ she said.
Viviane frowned at her colleague. ‘Brightstar?’
‘Hugh called me in to consult on the Council’s decision. And, of course, to deliver it. I get all the best jobs.’ She turned back to Hammond and Delphine. ‘Considering the handling of this… circumstance to date, and your abuse of Union associate members under our own roof, the Union of Ultrahumans is suspending support for the United States of America pending our own investigation.’
Twilight looked around. ‘Oh shit.’
~~~
In the observation room, Cygnus turned to Doctor Ultimate. ‘Hugh? You can’t be serious.’
‘I’m afraid we are. The Americans don’t complain when we do it to the Soviets or the Chinese. They signed the same agreement and they know what it means. Someone did not consider the implications of this cover-up before attempting to carry it out in this way.’
‘Alice is right. When you get focussed, it’s not always a good sign.’
‘Oh, it’s frequently a very bad sign. It generally means something is happening which deserves my full attention. If you feel it could be a problem for you to return to the US, we can arrange lodgings here.’
Cygnus frowned. ‘No… No, I’ll go back. If we duck out, they win.’ She gave the genius Ultra a smile. ‘Besides, if things go bad, Twi can hop out to Italy, and I’ll just fly out of there.’
‘They would likely come after you.’
‘Yeah, but I’ve been trying out some of that power-shifting we discussed. I think I can push some power into my speed. I’m not actually sure how fast I could go…’
Ultimate smiled. ‘I suspect you can leave them a long way behind you.’
‘Hopefully. Anyway, I have June to take care of, and I have another way of hiding from them. And Twi’s pretty sure that this ban will get revoked at the state level fairly quickly.’
‘I’ll make you a deal. If that happens, we’ll reconsider our position. The Union is here for the people of the world, not its governments. If those people trust you, we won’t punish them for what a few idiots are doing.’
Cygnus nodded. ‘Thanks. I’m just worrying about what’s going to have to happen before the state government gets forced into acting.’
~~~
‘It’s all over the news channels,’ June said. ‘There have been protests in Annapolis and Baltimore as well as here. There’s a report stating that a request for a protest march in Washington has been denied due to security concerns. There are civil liberties people screaming their lungs out all over the internet and every talk show they can get on.’
‘Swell,’ Andrea said. ‘Meanwhile, I said I’d go into the shop tomorrow to handle some stocktaking I had to miss today because of that farce.’
‘Heavy boxes?’
‘Some. Why?’
‘We’ll come with you and help. Well, I’ll come and lend moral support, and Cygnus can lift heavy boxes. Oh, and she’s great for shelves that are difficult to reach.’
‘Oh, thanks,’ Penny said.
‘You know how you love being helpful.’
‘Well, probably more fun than spending the day watching the news channels.’
23rd August
‘Okay, so I shouldn’t have even looked at the news channels.’
‘Probably not,’ Red said over the speakerphone, agreeing with Penny. ‘Skadi says Deale and Churchton got pretty bad last night.’
‘The reports are muttering things about the police being unable to cope.’
‘From what I’m told, they couldn’t. Between you, you have a pretty big suppression effect on the street crime up there. Twilight especially. Everyone’s scared she’s watching every dark alley. I’ve heard reports that street crime is up in Friendship too.’
‘You think it’ll get worse?’ Andrea asked.
‘What do you think?’
‘I think it’s going to be crazy tonight, and there’s nothing we can do about it.’
‘No, there isn’t. You two are civilians. You act like it.’
~~~
‘Where does this one go?’ Cygnus asked, holding up a glossy magazine sealed inside a plastic bag. ‘And I thought this place sold comics, not… whatever this is.’
Andrea looked up from the books she was sorting through. The magazine was titled, in large red letters, Ultrajugs! Andrea shook her head. ‘It’ll be signed. Roger really doesn’t buy things like that unless he thinks they’ll sell for a small fortune. Top shelf at the back you’ll find all the adult stuff.’
‘I should probably be outraged.’ Cygnus lifted lightly off the ground as she got to the right section. She glanced at the cover again and then slotted the mag into a box. ‘And there is no way that cover image hasn’t been retouched. Pretty sure the model’s been remodelled too.’
Andrea laughed. ‘You’re one to talk.’
Cygnus dropped back onto the floor. ‘It’s not the same. And I’m not that big.’
‘You’re an F-cup, love,’ June said. ‘That’s big. I’m bigger, but I have a narrower ribcage.’
‘I’ll just carry on being average,’ Andrea said. ‘Meanwhile, men’s magazines have existed since they invented the printing press. I figure they had dirty illuminated manuscripts before that.’
Cygnus gave a shrug. ‘I guess the calendar made money for some good causes. And that was without much visible nudity.’
‘Sideboob is the new naked. Anyway, men will be men and until we fix them, possibly with surgery, we’ll have things like that.’
The door from the storeroom at the back elected to open at that point and Roger stepped through. His smile vanished as he found himself suddenly faced with two Ultras on alert.
‘Roger,’ Andrea said, letting out a slightly exasperated breath, ‘what are you doing here?’
‘Uh, I own the place. Plus, I thought I’d check up on you and, um, I got paranoid I hadn’t turned the alarm on when I locked up last night.’
‘Sorry,’ Cygnus said. ‘With everything that’s been going on, we may be a little overwound too.’
Roger gave a shrug. ‘I’m not sure I could be angry with you if I tried.’
Cygnus flashed him a grin. ‘You haven’t met our other housemate, June.’
June hopped off the shop’s counter to shake Roger’s hand. He grinned. ‘Miss Summerfield, a pleasure. I’ve been following your work since the calendar. I was just expecting to find Andrea here.’
‘Well,’ June replied, ‘Cygnus is helping shelve things and I’m… providing eye candy and coffee.’
‘Yeah, we were just talking about you, Roger,’ Andrea said. ‘Cygnus was filing a copy of Ultrajugs!’
‘Ah, yes.’ Roger smiled, not the least bit abashed. ‘Signed by all of the models. That
should sell for upwards of two hundred dollars. I’m hoping for significantly more.’
‘Seriously?!’ Cygnus squeaked. ‘The cover said ten.’
‘And I paid fifty. The vendor really had no idea. The more complete the signature set, the better the price.’ He narrowed his eyes at June. ‘Could I get you to sign a few copies of that calendar while you’re here?’
‘I guess, but it’s August already. People aren’t going to–’
‘Signed copies of that calendar will sell for years.’ He looked around at Cygnus. ‘You should talk to Svetilo about making it annual. Pick some suitable charities. Change it up each year, though getting Ever on side for it would be good. Maybe swap out some of the celebrities and… Wasn’t part of the idea to give new models a break?’
‘Yeah,’ June said, frowning thoughtfully. ‘That’s how I got mine. You know, that’s not a bad idea…’
Cygnus looked at Andrea. ‘If I’m doing another one, you’re going to do it. You’ve no excuse this time.’
‘Not yet,’ Andrea replied, smiling. ‘But I’ll think of one.’
~~~
The announcer on ACPN sounded a little grimmer than usual. ‘Police in New Millennium City have been moving into the Churchton and Deale Harbour areas since nightfall. Reports indicate a continued rise in tension in the areas. Police Commissioner Harold Mainworthing had this to say.’
The image on the big screen changed to show Mainworthing, a rather brusque man in his late forties with a thick, greying moustache and little hair. He was looking serious, but then he looked serious while presenting medals. ‘New Millennium City will not tolerate the level of criminality we saw last night and the NMCPD is standing ready to control the situation in a measured and suitable manner.’
‘Commissioner,’ someone said from off-camera, presumably a reporter, ‘would you say that there has been over-reliance on the city’s Ultrahumans prior to today?’
‘I would say that the police budget has assumed that policing would be significantly enhanced by deputised civilian crime fighters and that the city’s administration is about to reap the rewards of their choices. That’s all.’
‘Ouch,’ Andrea said as Penny hit the mute button. ‘Do you get the feeling he had a bad meeting prior to that interview?’
‘Can’t blame him,’ Penny replied. ‘They do assume we’ll be around to hold the line and now we aren’t. I mean, look how fast they were to push me forward as the city’s “protector” when Ultranova was no longer in the picture.’
Andrea nodded. ‘The budget for policing in New Millennium hasn’t matched inflation any time in the last five years. It was frozen last year. For that matter, the fire department can only handle major incidents because of Svetilo and Fire Bug.’
‘Do you think they’ll be able to hold things down in Churchton and Deale?’ June asked.
‘No idea. It depends as much on how the cops react to things as it does on the bad guys. There are a lot of on-edge people with guns out there at the moment, on both sides. It’s not exactly a recipe for a happy street party.’
~~~
Somehow the phone’s perfectly normal ringtone seemed to have a dark, depressing quality to it. Penny lifted the handset with a vague sense of dread. ‘Hello?’
‘Cygnus? This is Dom speaking, da?’
‘Hi, Dom. What’s up? You sound like you’re in a war zone.’ The noise in the background of the call was loud: Penny thought she could hear screams amid the more general sounds.
‘That is good analogiya, uh, analogy.’ Penny frowned: Dom’s English usually only got that bad when she was stressed. ‘There is riot in Churchton. Looting, fires, fighting. I cannot ask you, but I am asking you. We need you down here.’
‘Dom… I can’t. If the UID sees me doing anything–’
‘The UID can kiss my perfect ass! You come here as citizen. You help me with fires. We have people trapped, Cygnus. Fire department cannot cope. Andy asked me to call, but people are getting desperate. They have set up triage centre for wounded, Cygnus. It is that bad here.’
‘Shit… All right. I’ll be there as soon as possible. Where are you?’
‘Avenue C and Twelfth. Just look for the smoke.’
The line went dead and Penny looked around at her friends. ‘Dom needs me helping with the fires. They’ve got a triage centre set up and… It sounds really bad.’
Andrea nodded. ‘Okay, well my first aid isn’t too bad. I’ll go to this triage place and see if I can help.’
‘Me too,’ June said.
‘June…’ Penny began.
‘No! It’s my city too. I have no idea what I can do aside from looking pretty, but if you two are going out there to help, I’ll damn well do the same.’
‘You drive Andrea up there and stick with her. I’ll fly out to meet Dom and Andy. Just remember, please, no heroics. We’re just civilians doing our civic duty.’
‘With Ultrahuman powers where needed,’ Andrea added.
‘Yeah, just try not to need them.’
~~~
Cygnus dropped to the roadway outside an apartment block which looked like it had seen many better days. Churchton had been built up as housing for those working on the city’s construction, then shifted to housing for the workers in the harbour area, and then neglected. Narrow streets and dark, tight alleys predominated, and were Twilight’s natural home. Now they were a liability as fire jumped between buildings with ease.
Svetilo, Dominika Zuyev, dressed in exercise pants and a cropped top, rushed over as soon as she spotted Cygnus arriving. ‘Buildings to side have been evacuated. We probably lose whole block, but most people are safe. Andy needs us inside. People trapped on top floor.’
‘Okay,’ Cygnus said.
‘And thank you for coming,’ Svetilo said as she started into the air. ‘Never thought I’d see you at scene out of costume.’
Dressed in denim shorts and a camisole top, Cygnus was feeling a little out of sorts, but… ‘I was in a hurry and I didn’t think getting in costume was a good idea.’
‘You may have point.’ Svetilo landed on the roof near an access door, grabbed the handle, and pulled. Metal screamed, briefly, in protest, and then flames were pouring out of the doorway. ‘Chjort!’ Svetilo plucked a radio from her waistband and pressed the key. ‘Svetilo to Fire Bug. Access stairwell is burning. Over.’
There was a slight pause and then, ‘Fire Bug here, Svetilo. I can’t get out to you. I’ve got a dozen people here and if we move, someone’s going to get hurt. Over.’
‘Chert voz’mi… How do we–’
‘Hold on,’ Cygnus said, looking at the flames. ‘I’ve seen Andy do it…’
Svetilo pressed the key. ‘Wait there, Fire Bug. Cygnus is going to try something…’ She trailed off as the flames in the stairwell began to die away. ‘How are you… Never mind. Andy, we are coming to you. Svetilo out.’
The stairwell was a mess, the staircase almost burned through, so they took to the air to get down to the next floor, but that proved to be no problem as Cygnus drove the fire back ahead of them all the way to ground level.
‘He’s up ahead,’ Cygnus said as they moved down the corridor. ‘I can sort of feel his control joining up with mine.’
‘I still do not understand how you are doing this,’ Svetilo said. ‘I do not care, because you are doing this, but I do not understand.’
‘Well, I had to give up some basic strength to do it, so if there’s a door to kick in, that’s your job. Damn it’s hot. I can kind of shift powers around. If I can work out how to do it. I learned force fields from you. I learned fire control from Andy.’
‘Udivitel’no. Amazing.’
The door was not burning, but the heat had jammed it into its frame and Svetilo did have to apply her foot to it to get it open. They found the flame-eyed Fire Bug in one of the apartments which was entirely free of fire, but packed full of people who had not been able to get out before the floors below became impassable.
&
nbsp; ‘How,’ the fireman said, ‘are you doing that?’
‘Same way you do,’ Cygnus replied. ‘I think.’
He shook his head. ‘The field you’re generating is bigger than mine.’
‘Sorry, I wasn’t sure how much power to stack into–’
‘This isn’t me being macho and male. With a bit of overlapping, we might be able to contain the flames, stop them getting down the chain.’
‘Oh. Oh! Uh, if I really push it, I could maybe make mine larger.’
‘Can you cover the whole building?’
‘Uh… I have no idea. I can try. You’d have to help Svetilo with the civilians. I’ll be… just me.’
‘Do it. I’ll carry an elephant out of here if I have to. Stop the fire.’
Cygnus nodded and started for the door, focussing on diverting every ounce of power she had into controlling the flames around her, suppressing them as far as she could stretch her will to reach them. She stopped at what looked like the middle of the corridor and waited a second. She felt weak, unprotected, and the heat was stifling, but it seemed to be working.
‘Okay,’ Cygnus yelled back over her shoulder. ‘I think I’ve got this. Start getting them clear.’ Now all she had to do was keep control of it.
~~~
June was feeling a little useless, but she was getting smiles and thank-yous from various medics, paramedics, and civilians with enough expertise to help, like Andrea, as she rushed around the tent structures someone had hurriedly set up on Dock Two.
That particular pier had more or less gone out of use in the last decade. A couple of companies ran tourist trips around Chesapeake Bay from there, but it was mostly an open space and a couple of small buildings, and it was near the border of Deale and Churchton, so they were using it as a clearing centre. The wounded, shocked, and severely injured were brought in by whatever means available, checked over by a doctor, and then shipped out to Friendship for further treatment, if needed.
‘Okay, kid,’ Andrea said as June arrived with a new stock of bandages and surgical tape. She was just finishing up wrapping a boy’s hand. ‘You’ll be fine. Just a nasty scratch.’ Andrea looked up at the boy’s mother, hovering over her. ‘Fingers always bleed worse than the wound is. You’ll want to get those changed tomorrow, just to be sure, but he should do fine.’
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