Bluebell reached out to her husband, apparently immune to his fiery radiation. "Aurora! We can't risk it. Even the workshop isn't that strong."
Aurora's mouth twisted below his half-mask. SMART had remained motionless, apparently locked into a crouch position, gears sparking as it struggled to regain movement. But even paralyzed, the machine operated all base systems remotely. It was a threat that needed to be eliminated.
Aurora began to speak, but was cut off as a beam of blue light struck his head. He cried out and was floored, dropping vertically. His aura dimmed and cooled to a deep burnt orange.
Linear sped forward, catching his leader before he touched the ground. But Aurora was already regaining his footing, shaking his head to clear it.
"Bluebell, Sand Cat is hurt – see to her. Linear, Dragon Star, it's time to end this. Paragon, maintain vigilance on the prisoner."
Conroy's mouth pursed, half in surprise, half in embarrassment. Blackbird fluttered her eyelids at him and smiled coquettishly, before spitting in his face.
SMART rose, leg gears grinding as they found a happy medium between regular systems and the agility/stealth setting. The robot wavered slightly with each step, but soon compensated for the altered balance. Swinging its guns around to cover the heroes, it opened fire with everything it had.
The Dragon Star's shield stopped the initial blasts, allowing Linear to fly in, spinning a silver blur around the robot as he attacked weak points and attempted to find gaps in the armor plate. Distracted, SMART took several hits from Aurora's plasma blasts before the hero came to touching distance and threw a right, then a left, then a right again.
The first two punches landed with awful metallic clangs, but on the third the robot ceased fire and blocked Aurora's attack with its own armored fist. Aurora's knee came up and connected with the underside of SMART's arm, forcing the robot to release him. Advantage on his side, he lifted up a few feet, then brought his elbows down onto the exposed head unit. SMART shook, but this time a waist servo snapped and it fell sideways. Linear's silver glow changed trajectory, avoiding being crushed by the immense machine and turning his attention to newly exposed weaknesses.
Aurora pummeled SMART's casing again and again, each blow weakening the robot, just a little bit.
"Aurora!" Bluebell called out over the cacophony of sound. When he turned to look at her, she indicated Joe and Sam, who were beginning to suffer in the increasingly rarefied atmosphere.
Conroy wasn't doing much better, but found the strength to be heard. "She's right. We can't last much longer. We have to regain control of the base and turn that damned robot off."
The Dragon Star flipped her shield off for a moment, collapsing the energy shell into a series of powerful blasts that struck SMART, causing the robot to rock but apparently inflicting little damage, then turned the shield back on as another volley of blue laser bolts flew towards her and the civilians.
"Paragon speaks the truth, heroes." The Dragon Star spoke for the first time in the fight. Even Aurora backed away from the robot and came closer to the hero, interested in her appraisal.
"We can only destroy the robot if we use maximum effort, which will breach the workshop," the Dragon Star continued.
"There is another way."
Everyone turned. Blackbird waved her powercuffed arms toward SMART. "If he's linked to the system, the system is linked to him. Five minutes." She waggled her cuffed wrists. "If you want us all to live, of course."
Aurora looked at her, then Conroy, his face lit by another barrage from SMART, held in check by the Dragon Star's shield.
Conroy stepped forward. "She's right. Jeannie's primary expertise is electronics and computer systems." Aurora remained silent. Conroy searched his expressionless face, then sighed in exasperation. "She patched us into your secure satellite system, for goodness' sake! Do it!"
Aurora tilted his head toward the prisoner, then nodded curtly. Bluebell moved to release Blackbird from the powercuffs, tapping out a sequence on its keypad. The cuffs clicked open and Blackbird let them drop to the floor.
"Control room?"
Bluebell nodded. "Hephaestus' lab. This way."
The lab was an annex to the workshop, and was cast in deep shadows. The only light came in from a large reinforced viewing window that looked out into the main workshop. The glass was thick and tinted, but there was enough illumination cast from the Dragon Star's powerstaff in the other room for Blackbird as she tore at a control panel on the wall. Bluebell kept her distance, watching the now-freed prisoner but ready to knock her out with a psychic punch if she tried anything. But soon Blackbird was peering into the wall cavity up to her shoulders, and Bluebell couldn't resist moving in for a closer look.
"What are you going to do? And how, exactly, do you know what to do?"
Blackbird's head emerged from the access panel. She reached in deep with both hands and dragged out a thick, weave-bound cable, joined at the middle with a bulky metal screw connector. She began twisting its collar to separate the leads.
"The what is to turn your lovely robot off, from here." She gestured to the currently inactive main control deck. "SMART and your whole computer system are not two separate units, a computer operating system and a controller, they're the same system. There is no separation." She pulled the lead apart then scanned the array of inputs that studded the next wall panel along. "Which is either a very clever way of designing your entire computer infrastructure, or a very stupid one." She glanced at Bluebell, one eyebrow raised, waiting for a retort, but Bluebell didn't say anything. She clearly wasn't the technical brains behind the operation. "Well, just for today, I'll go for clever.
"The how is easy. We've got a complete systems readout of the Citadel of Wonders. Well, had a complete systems readout. We needed it to patch into the satellite system, and it was also useful for monitoring every move the Seven Wonders made. The moonbase is a carbon copy. I even know your electrical wiring system like the back of my hand."
Locating the required port, she screwed one end of the cable into the wall. The second lead she left dangling from the opened access panel. Blackbird turned to the main control desk under the observation window. Through the glare, she could just make out the red haze of Aurora as the hero pumped his energy up a notch and took another swing at SMART, which had managed to stand again and had both arms raised as it advanced on its former leader.
"Let's get this party started," said Blackbird, depressing a key combination on the control panel, which bleeped in response, a constellation of LEDs lighting all at once.
This was it. Sam was pretty sure of the fact. The environment was too far gone, quickly heading towards being completely incompatible with life. Her face, arms, chest and thighs burned with heat as, in front of her, Aurora maintained his assault on SMART. The two colossi clashed in hand-to-hand combat, while the small, almost frail form of the Dragon Star flitted around, keeping the room lit and her large elliptical shield up to protect everyone from the seemingly random blue laser of the robot.
But the back of her legs, her shoulders, they were as cold as ice. With the moonbase life support off, it was only the heat of Aurora's battle that kept her, Joe and presumably the Cowl from freezing to death. She presumed that the superheroes were immune to the cold anyway, although it crossed her mind as to how Blackbird was managing to stay alive in the workshop control room. She and Bluebell had vanished into the annex and had been gone for what seemed like hours while the superheroes fought to keep their robot − and former member − in check.
There was a brief blast of siren, the squawk of an emergency PA, and the workshop lights came back on. Immediately the Dragon Star quenched her own light and redirected the energy back into the offensive. Her shield began to pulse as she used the excess power to fire round after round of pink fizzing energy bolts at SMART. Most were absorbed by its miraculous white armor, but it proved to be an admirable distraction. Momentarily confused, assessing the new threat, SMART paused, allowing Aurora
in closer for a colossal underarm charge. Aurora and the robot swept backwards, colliding with the rear wall of the workshop. Aurora pressed the machine into the wall, crumpling a large area with a fingernails-on-blackboard screech.
Next to her, Joe let out a sigh. Sam looked over at him, and saw him smiling as he clutched his chest. He was breathing easier, and she realized she was too. The air didn't have the deadly icy quality to it any longer. Blackbird had managed to regain control. Joe winked and gave a thumbs-up.
Aurora floated backwards from his handiwork, with SMART embedded in the workshop wall. While normally this would only be a minor hindrance, the robot did not attempt to extricate itself. The Dragon Star allowed her shield to fall as she approached the robot, and Linear reappeared, a handful of wires and twisted plastic in one hand. He tossed the debris to the floor and peered at SMART. The robot's red optics were dark.
"Was that me?" Linear pulled his mask off and scratched his beard, then kicked the discarded components out of the way with the toe of one boot.
The PA barked, and Bluebell spoke from the annex. "Blackbird's disconnected SMART from the system. We've got control back."
Linear grinned at Aurora. Even from her position near the workshop exit, Sam could see the superhero's face back in the usual smirk. She smiled herself, finding Aurora's clichéd tough-guy expression strangely comforting.
Bluebell and Blackbird emerged from the annex doorway. Sam watched them cross the floor, noting that Blackbird remained uncuffed. Conroy walked over to where Aurora, the Dragon Star and Linear were poking and prodding at the deactivated bulk of SMART.
"Ah, Aurora, we don't have much time here." As he spoke, Conroy glanced at Blackbird, who was watching him with an expression of complete hatred. He cleared his throat and turned back to Aurora.
Aurora stepped back from the robot's carcass. "The Draconid meteors?"
Conroy nodded. "We have to be ready, intercept the package in space before it even reaches the Earth."
"Understood." Aurora waved over at Blackbird, and pointed a heavy gauntlet at SMART's dead optics. "Can you remove SMART's data core and install it in the base computer?"
Blackbird strolled over, somehow maintaining a casual, indifferent air. "Why can't you do it?"
"Hephaestus was our technical expert."
Blackbird's mouth curled up in an unpleasant smile. "You want to mount his core like an external drive?"
"Allowing access to the file directories, yes."
Blackbird squinted, tilting her head as she looked at the black cube of SMART's processor, nestled within the wires and loops of its exposed head mechanism. "Yeah, should be easy. Got a terminal?"
"Main conference room." Aurora turned on his heel, striking out for the workshop door. "The meteor shower approaches, but before we can act we need to get to the bottom of this mystery."
He paused, mid-stride, and turned to slowly walk back towards the Dragon Star. Hands on hips, he towered over her.
"We must know everything, my friend. The fate of the entire world hangs in the balance." He turned to face the room. "Everyone, follow me."
Aurora strode back to the main door. Linear and Bluebell helped a still-groggy Sand Cat up and out, and they were followed by Conroy, Joe and Sam. Blackbird clambered over SMART's collapsed form to reach the head. The Dragon Star stepped backwards, sweeping the powerstaff around to cover Blackbird, still technically their prisoner. Blackbird heard the movement, and looked over her shoulder at the gently pulsing superhero.
"Gimme a break, kid. I've got work to do." She turned back to her job. "So, on the run from the Thuban, eh? Well done on keeping that a secret. I guess Bluebell can't read that dead head of yours, eh? No electrical activity, is there? Brainwaves at zero. Handy. I'll see what I can do with the memory readout from this thing, but I can't promise anything. You'll need to face up to the consequences yourself."
Blackbird jerked SMART's memory cube from the robot's head and turned, but the Dragon Star was gone.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
With Bluebell's help, Blackbird jury-rigged SMART's memory cube into the system controller that formed part of the conference room table within two hours. Aurora's display panel was active; he tapped at it, navigating through system folders and directory displays, waiting for SMART's isolated memory core to become available. Blackbird had been surprised to find the Dragon Star already sitting at the table, at her customary position at the opposite end to Aurora. Already the two heroes had exchanged glances a few times, or was that just her imagination? What was the link between the two? Did it go as far as telepathy? Given their almost symbiotic relationship in battle, it wouldn't have surprised her. Aurora was stoic, emotionless, and the Dragon Star silent, expressionless. Quite the crime-fighting pair.
"Are we ready, Blackbird?"
She looked up at Aurora. The memory cube had been active for a few moments, and she'd let herself drift off into her own thoughts. That kind of carelessness was dangerous, especially with Bluebell at her shoulder.
Blackbird nodded, and Aurora's gloved fingers moved over the touch panels.
"Of course, what readout SMART's systems will provide is merely the missing link," began Aurora. "As part of his agreement with us, Paragon placed all files and data once in the possession of his alter ego known as the Cowl in our hands, and with his direction, retrieval of the power core from the Draconid meteor shower will be a matter of routine." Conroy nodded, almost sagely. Blackbird snorted. The creep.
"What is new information is that in addition to the power core, the Thuban have sent a warship to collect their bounty." Aurora sat down, and leaned back, causing his chair to creak loudly. "That bounty, of course, being our guest from the Thuban, the Dragon Star." He gestured towards the opposite end of the table. The Dragon Star was looking downward, and appeared not to notice the entire room was looking at her.
Linear buzzed. "Bounty?" He looked around the room. Nobody was saying anything, or even daring to move. Linear's chair rattled against the floor as his outline faded into a blur then snapped back into sharp focus. He looked around each of the people seated at the table in disbelief. "The Dragon Star is a dedicated protector of the Earth, and a sworn member of the Seven Wonders… right? Are you telling us she's a criminal? Some kind of alien con on the run from her own people?"
Aurora said nothing, but the Dragon Star raised her hood and met her leader's empty, masked eyes. He inclined his head slightly, and she began.
"Linear is correct. I am an escapee of the Thuban. I am a wanted criminal on a hundred worlds and a thousand moons. The bounty on my head exceeds the value of the mineral wealth of your entire solar system. If I am captured, I will be imprisoned until the end of the universe and tortured beyond that time point."
As the Dragon Star spoke, for the first time she appeared to become animated, a real, living person, even though Sam knew the horrific truth about her. The words were stilted, odd coming from this allAmerican teenager, apparently no older than sixteen, but the voice that spoke them and the alien intelligence behind the young face was ancient beyond all understanding; a bodiless, abstract entity merely re-animating the dead body of a teenage murder victim. Sam knew, unlike most members of the general public, about the Dragon Star. She'd investigated the girl's death: it had been her first assignment when she'd joined SuperCrime, the case that had brought her and David together. Perhaps, she thought, that was yet another reason among many why she didn't like the superheroes in general, the Dragon Star in particular. She shuddered inwardly as more gory details of the case swam into her mind… but then here was the girl, the dead cheerleader, all hope and promise for the future extinguished violently, sitting at a table of superheroes in colored spandex, wielding an awesome alien artifact, and describing an impossible life the girl could never have known. As she listened to the Dragon Star's explanation, Sam didn't know whether to weep or be sick on the floor.
"My crime is a simple one, according to the Thuban. Freedom of thought. The Thu
ban are a collective, a group intelligence into which each individual is absorbed. While each Thuban retains consciousness, intelligence and awareness, identity is forbidden.
"But this is not a choice we make. For many, assimilation is a living hell, entered into unwillingly. But more than that, as the Thuban hive expands outwards in space from our home, Alpha Draconis, the Dragon Star, so intelligent life and civilizations old and new are absorbed into the collective. The Thuban are consumers, absorbing and destroying all that come near. So I made my decision where billions of my kind would not. I declared an identity and left the collective. I was not stopped, because no one had ever left before. Such an act was beyond all reasoning.
"I could not fight the Thuban on my own, so I fled as the declaration of my outlaw status was pronounced. I flew across the universe, and to the Earth, where freedom and identity are paramount. It is here that I found my home, defending those very principles, with my new friends. The superheroes of the Seven Wonders."
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