Seven Wonders

by Christopher, Adam

  "Captain!"

  Gillespie turned, scanning the mass of people weaving through abandoned cars on the packed highway and wishing he had a cigarette.

  Everyone was heading away from the city in one great tide. Gillespie couldn't see a single person coming back towards the interstate bridge that connected North Beach to San Ventura proper.

  Then he noticed that what he thought was the blue and red flicker of his Kojak was actually a blue glow from over his head. Looking up, he saw the Dragon Star descend, alighting on the only clear surface – the roof of his car. As her feet touched it, a translucent glowing bubble floated down behind her, attached to her powerstaff by a fine tether. Inside, the chief watched his two detectives gingerly find their footing, accompanied by billionaire industrialist Geoffrey Conroy wearing a strange black costume with a white cross on the front, and a woman with short black hair wearing… an orange prison jumpsuit? He recognized her at once, pleased at least that somebody had managed to take Doctor Jean Ravenholt into custody.

  As soon as the Dragon Star snapped the bubble off, the group dropped another inch onto the roof of the car. Sam slid off the side straight away, then snapped a salute to her captain with a smile.

  "That's quite an entrance, detectives," said Gillespie. "I'll take the cost of roof repair out of your next checks." He glanced up at Conroy and Ravenholt, still standing on the roof, and raised an eyebrow. "Good evening, Mr Conroy." He turned back to Sam. "I'm gonna ask you about them later. First up, we need help."

  Sam nodded and quickly surveyed the roadway. Most people were walking towards the suburbs. What space there was on either side of the highway on the narrow isthmus was packed with more people standing and watching the burning city. The area was a popular spot for watching city displays on the Fourth of July or similar occasions for those who weren't committed enough to camp for hours farther up the hills in the prime viewing positions. But this was something else entirely. Everyone looking back towards the city was doing so in complete shock. Well, most people. Some were crying, but some were laughing and pointing too. Assholes.

  The meteor shower seemed to be passing. Although the sky was still filled with shooting stars, no further debris was falling on the safe side of the harbor. A few rocks, much smaller than the devastating lumps that had pelted the city earlier, but still large enough to be seen as they streaked downward, fell on the city. Their falls were slow, sickly somehow, almost drifting downwards in a steady tumble. It was surreal and frightening, like CG from a movie. Sam shook her head and turned away. Joe had his arms folded and watched with a grim expression. He nodded back to his captain.

  "OK, what do we need to do here?"

  Gillespie pointed back down the bridge. "There are police down the opposite end of the bridge. No one is answering their cell, and the radio in my car seems to be out as well. I don't know what's going on in the city, but if we can liaise with the patrol at the end of the bridge, perhaps we can get these people moving farther up into the hills."

  Joe nodded, then looked at the one-way push of pedestrians walking between the stationary cars. A lot of vehicles were empty, engines cold, the drivers and passengers having abandoned them on the bridge and roadway to join the exodus on foot.

  "Talk about pushing against the tide. Come on."

  "Hey!"

  Doctor Ravenholt shouted from the top of the car, and jumped off, pointing a finger in Sam's face. "What about us, peaches?"

  "I'm hoping she is in custody and you aren't trusting her an inch," said Gillespie, glancing at her orange jumpsuit. He watched as the detectives fumbled for a concise explanation, but he'd already turned around.

  "I can vouch for Jeannie," said Conroy. "We're all pitching in tonight."

  Gillespie held his hands up. "OK, whatever, time's a-wastin' here. Let's clear this up first, then we can debrief." He began to walk off.

  The Dragon Star pushed off into the air. Already the flow of pedestrians had snarled around the vehicle on which she'd landed as people called out to her with outstretched arms, begging or demanding assistance. She flew up just a few yards, but enough so everyone could now see her, from the end of the bridge to the furthest line of people halfway up the North Beach highway. Her powerstaff flashed, calling everyone to attention.

  "Enough," she said, the authority in her voice overcoming her physical youth. "We have come to help and we expect full cooperation. You will obey all instructions of the law enforcement authorities." Her voice was loud, superpowered loud, and echoed out in the night. Everyone heard, some people cheered and clapped, and the exodus resumed their slow shuffle into the hills, perhaps at a slightly faster pace than before.

  The Dragon Star lowered herself, and pointed her staff at the five unpowered humans. Gillespie took a step back and held his hands up.

  "I'm needed here. You take the others wherever is best."

  The superhero indicated her understanding. "Come," she said, a blue bubble of energy growing from the end of the powerstaff and enveloping Joe, Sam, Conroy and Jeannie. The Dragon Star turned and pulled her charges behind her into the air as she flew to the city side of the bridge.

  Gillespie watched them for a moment, then turned back to his other officers. He really wanted a cigarette and, against all odds, he really wanted a robot coffee.

  Sam had no clue how long they'd been chaperoning pedestrians and directing traffic, trying to get the bridge clear. She needed to rest – she and Joe both did – as they hadn't really stopped since the battle in Moore–Reppion Plaza that had killed Tony Prosdocimi, but so long as men, women, children, babies, even cats and dogs needed assistance in reaching the relative safety of the North Beach hills, they'd keep working.

  It was only when Joe started talking to her that she realized she wasn't listening. She'd spent the last couple of hours on autopilot, her conscious brain taking a much-needed break.

  "I'm sorry, what?"

  Joe raised his voice, thinking perhaps she just hadn't heard him above the hum of the crowd.

  "I said, it looks like the main fires are under control."

  Sam craned her neck over her shoulder at the cityscape behind. Most of the skyscrapers were now dark, not only because the power grid had either been shut down or burnt out, but because the ferocious yellow of the fire had almost vanished completely. Sam half-wondered what Aurora had been able to do, his power being based on channeling nuclear energy from the sun − fire from the stars, quite literally.

  "Do you think they found the core yet?"

  Sam shook her head, then shrugged, then rubbed her forehead. Now she really was too tired for such advanced thought processes. "I think we would know by now. Any news, Dragon Star?"

  The superhero had just arrived from the opposite side of the harbor, where she had ferried a disabled man and his family over the top of the still-thick stream of people. There was little room on the roadway, so she hovered above Sam and Joe, forcing them to crane their necks awkwardly to see her. Sam wished she could lift the whole crowd across, but it was impractical and she knew only a select few – the disabled, infirm and elderly – could get a ride in the Dragon Star's magical bubble.

  The Dragon Star stared into the city, then spoke. "I have not heard anything."

  Joe nodded. "Well, yeah, we'll find out when they do, I guess. How's the progress on North Beach?"

  The Dragon Star rotated on her axis in the air, gently coasting around to face away from them. Sam didn't know how far she could see, or hear, or whatever, but it was a little unnerving. Still, she'd been a tremendous help, moving not only people but cars and even buses.

  "The beach and foothills are becoming crowded, but the area is safe. Regular law enforcement and emergency ambulance services will be able to get in soon. There are helicopters there already, both police and rescue. People are traumatized and unprepared for a night in the open, but they still hold hope."

  "To be expected," Sam said. "We've been lucky. The city is used to weird happenings. Even on such a gr
and scale, they've handled it well."

  There was a crackle, and right above Sam's head, the Dragon Star's powerstaff kicked in the air. The hero gained height a little, and the staff twitched again. Her cloak billowed in the breeze, lit from underneath by the pulsating light of the device.

  Sam could sense something different about her. The superhero may have the body of a teenage cheerleader, but Sam had to remind herself that the alien intelligence animating the body was just that, alien, a fact betrayed by incorrect body language and, well, an inhumanly cold manner. Right now, she was rigid, tense, listening and looking for something. The Dragon Star raised her powerstaff, which buzzed hotly in the air.

  "The power core. Come, we are in danger."

  Sam looked at Joe, who stared back. She then looked around the immediate area, turning a complete circle. Three patrol cars, a handful of uniforms, some taking a break, the thin trickle of stragglers from the city.

  "Where are Conroy and Blackbird?"

  Joe's eyes widened as he joined Sam's search, their whiteness contrasting even more against his dark skin in the artificial light cast by the patrol car lights. "Oh shit. Not…?"

  Sam met his eye. "The Cowl and fucking Blackbird. Goddamn, I knew it."

  Before they could say anything else, the air fuzzed blue and purple, the Dragon Star's bubble surrounding them again and lifting the pair from the ground with a sudden jerk which threw them against the side of the sphere. Sam felt the bubble tingle against the heel of her hand.

  "Hey! Where are we going?"

  The Dragon Star pointed with her staff. Soon they were flying over the interstate bridge and to the North Beach hills.

  "There. The power core is there. But…" She paused, and their flight stalled.

  Sam looked up at her. "But what?"

  The Dragon Star didn't reply immediately. When she did, Sam could see her mouth was pulled downwards at the edges, the closest that she'd ever seen the alien had got to an emotional expression.

  "I cannot contact Aurora or any of the Wonders in the city. Even Bluebell's mind is closed."

  Sam took a breath. Joe looked like he was ready to say something but she held a hand up, motioning him to keep quiet while she thought things through.

  "First things first," she began slowly. "If the Cowl and Blackbird get the power core, the city really is history. That's number one. Number two, once we get the power core and those two assholes sewn up, then we go into the city and check on the heroes. For the moment we just have to assume they can handle themselves."

  Joe's mouth closed, then he nodded. "Agreed."

  "I too agree," said the Dragon Star, turning in the air and pulling the detectives behind her.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  "Ah, a home away from home," said Jeannie. "Such sweet memories."

  Conroy couldn't resist a laugh, but as he did he tripped and bumped into the corner of the building. Here, on the side facing away from the city and harbor, it was quite dark and he was forced to feel his way forward around the back of his old North Beach mansion.

  "We do it your way, this is gonna take all night."

  Jeannie strode past him, her bright overalls nothing more than a deep gray shadow. He took a delicate step forward, then tripped again as he started at the sound of breaking glass and splintering wood. He swore, called for Jeannie, then stopped as the outside lights flooded on.

  "OK, that works."

  He stepped around the corner, grimacing at the smashed French windows of his former mansion. Jeannie stood inside an airy dining area, furniture covered with white sheets.

  "So what are we doing here, exactly?"

  Conroy clacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Well, seeing as we were in the neighborhood, there was just something I wanted to pick up."

  "What about the evacuation of the city?"

  Conroy waved a hand. "The heroes have that under control."

  "Uh-huh." Jeannie put her hands on her hips. "I thought you were a hero now?"

  Conroy laughed. "You could say that, yes, but a hero without powers? Useful, but only to a limited degree."

  "Still feeling… impotent, eh?" Jeannie snorted.

  "Oh, catty. I like that." Conroy hopped down a short flight of three wide stairs that led down into a broad lounge area. A massive copperfaced hearth stood cold against one immaculate white wall. Jeannie went to follow, then paused on the steps. On the floor in one corner was the crumpled cloak The Cowl had dumped millennia ago.

  "And what are we looking for?"

  "Oh, we're not looking for anything. I've found it." Conroy reached under the artfully angled frontage of the hearth, groping for a secret compartment. He let out a long "Ah-ha!" and withdrew his hand. He turned to Jeannie and held up a thick black cylinder, its surface shiny and glass-like.

  "Prison life rotting the brain, eh?" he said with a smile. "We only raided a dozen secret locations and killed even more to build this."

  "So that's where you hid it," said Jeannie. She frowned. "I didn't think we'd finished that project?"

  Conroy rolled the device over in his hands, running his fingers over every square inch of its smooth surface.

  "Oh, we didn't," he said. "There's no way to couple it with the core itself and charge it up, and of course we never got to the gun part. But it'll help locate the core, anyway. The city is a mess, I thought we might need it."

  Jeannie reached out a hand, palm up. Conroy hesitated for a second, then handed the slim device over. It was featureless and smooth, with no controls or readout. Jeannie handed it back.

  "I prefer my alien artifacts to have buttons. You know how to use it?"

  Conroy looked at the cylinder. "You don't need to know how to use it. It'll do all the work."

  Right on cue, the device blinked into life. The black metal surface changed hue, becoming a shiny gray like a TV set that's just been turned off in a dark room.

  "Drop it!"

  The blonde detective stood in the smashed doorway, legs splayed, pistol held firm in a two-handed grip. Behind and to her left, her partner adopted the same position, aiming squarely at Jeannie. The Dragon Star hovered at the rear, head and shoulders above the two detectives and hefting her powerstaff horizontally over her own head.

  Conroy took a step forward. The color of the wand shifted to a lighter shade of gray. "Sam, I…"

  "That's Detective Millar, SVPD, Mr Conroy. Another step and I'll put a hole in that fancy suit of yours."

  "It's armored, detective."

  Sam twitched the gun up a fraction, maintaining her precise stance. "Well I'll just have to aim a little higher, won't I?"

  Conroy raised his hands in surrender, making sure the power core detector was as visible as possible.

  "Sam, you're making a mistake. I came here to collect this−" he waggled the device in the air "−which I thought would be the easiest way to find the power core."

  Sam's expression didn't change. "Yeah, right."

  Jeannie threw a sideways glance at her former lover. "Now what?"

  "Now what nothing."

  "No, like now what, what are we going to do?"

  Conroy shrugged. "Like, nothing." He nodded at the Dragon Star. "Will this be useful? Take it."

  The Dragon Star floated to the ground, and walked around the two detectives, obscuring their line of fire as her cloak spread out behind her. She walked up to Conroy, close enough that they almost touched. The Dragon Star looked up into his face, her eyes searching his features. Conroy imagined the alien mind inhabiting the body trying to read the expression and judge what the true intentions of this human were. Conroy smiled, and brought the device in front of the hero's face.

  The Dragon Star reached up and took it. Conroy let got with no resistance. "I told you. I wouldn't betray the Seven Wonders."

  Jeannie hissed. "You sonovabitch. You really have changed, haven't you?"

  The Dragon Star took a step back and Conroy used the space to turn to Jeannie. "Damn right, honeybun." He
looked at the detectives. "Happy?"

  The Dragon Star turned and walked back up the stairs and towards the exit, holding her powerstaff in one hand and the detector in the other. Without stopping, she walked past the detectives and out into the grounds of house.

  "Paragon speaks the truth. The power core is near – come."

  Joe relaxed and holstered his gun, shaking his head but not arguing. Sam held the gun a moment longer, keeping Conroy in her sights.

  "Sam?"

  Sam's face was flushed red and her eyes were wet. But she took a breath and lowered her gun. She fixed Conroy with a dark look for a few seconds, then turned and followed the Dragon Star outside.