She forces herself to smile and then asks, “How are you and Sally?”
“Hanging in there. It’s Jenny I’m worried about. She’s still having nightmares. The therapist says we shouldn’t worry, but it’s been a year. Shouldn’t she have gotten over it by now?”
“It is a big shock losing a parent. Look at Robin.”
“Well, I hope Jenny doesn’t grow up to be a vigilante.”
“I’m sure it’ll all turn out fine. She needs more time.”
“I hope so.” Velocity Gal shakes her head. “It’s so horrible, hearing her scream for me and yet I can’t be there for her, not really. I mean, things between us aren’t like they were, but I’m still Aunt Ally, not Daddy. You know?”
Starla, never having any children, doesn’t really know, but she nods. “It’ll get better.”
Before Velocity Gal can respond there is the screech of jets nearby. A black, arrowhead-shaped plane touches down on the tarmac. From the cockpit comes the last three members of the Super Squad.
“Next time I want to fly it,” the Outcast whines.
“When you can afford to buy one, then you can fly it,” Midnight Spectre says.
“Don’t you two ever shut up?” Mermaid snaps. She stomps over to Apex Girl and Velocity Gal. “How much longer until they get here?”
“Should be about twenty minutes,” Midnight Spectre says, glancing at her phone.
“Damn it,” Mermaid grumbles. “I promised Erek I’d be back for the evening feeding.”
“So go,” Midnight Spectre says. “We don’t need you.”
“I’m not going until I’m sure that bitch is back in her cell.” Mermaid turns to Starla. “Why don’t you go pick her up and fly her back?”
“Because they don’t trust her,” Midnight Spectre says. “They don’t trust any of us.”
“But they’re the ones who screw everything up,” the Outcast adds. She tries to put a hand on Midnight Spectre’s shoulder, but the shorter girl shrugs it away.
“What have I told you about doing that in public?”
“Sorry.”
While the teenagers argue, Starla thinks about what Midnight Spectre said. It’s true that Colonel Storm and the US military don’t trust her or any of the Super Squad. Their working relationship has always been tenuous at best, even before Dalton and the Feminazi turned them into women. Since then it’s only gotten worse; Colonel Storm is the old school type who continues to think women are better-suited as secretaries than soldiers. It seems odd he would have picked Dalton as his aide, but Starla supposes he might not have had much of a choice about it.
In this case, Starla is glad for Storm’s attitude. She doesn’t want to be around Dalton; she certainly doesn’t want to carry the woman hundreds of miles back to prison. She’d much rather keep a barrier between them. If Apex Girl were carrying Dalton, it would be too tempting to drop the horrible woman into the ocean or a volcano or simply fly her upwards until she dies from a lack of oxygen or burns up in the atmosphere.
Her infrared vision kicks on, as it always does when she gets too angry. To mask this anger, she says, “I’m going to check things out.”
She launches herself back into the safety of the air. It doesn’t take her long to find the convoy carrying Dalton. Midnight Spectre’s estimate is probably right. In about twenty minutes they should be at the airport—
A flash of heat pops up in her vision. There’s an explosion seconds later. Apex Girl swoops down for a closer look, but she can’t see where the explosion came from. She turns off the IR vision to use her much-better-than-average regular vision. With it, she can see a couple of black shapes off to either side of the road. That must be who attacked the convoy.
As she swoops down, she says into her radio, “There’s trouble about ten miles from the base. The convoy is under fire.”
“I’m on my way,” Velocity Gal says.
“We’re on our way,” Midnight Spectre amends.
Apex Girl lands on the road beside the personnel carrier with Dalton inside. She uses her IR vision for a moment to determine the woman is still inside. Then she searches for who’s firing at the convoy.
It becomes clear why her IR vision didn’t see anything: the black shapes attacking the convoy are robots! She finds this out when she punches the first one she sees. The robot collapses into a bunch of spare parts. Two more whirl on her and fire missiles like those that were fired at the convoy. The missiles hit her square in the chest, but explode harmlessly.
As she grabs the robots to smash their heads together, she’s joined by Velocity Gal. “What took so long?” Starla teases.
She has finished off the last of the robots when an explosion knocks her and Velocity Gal off their feet. She turns in time to see a plume of flame rising from where Dalton’s APC had been. “Oh no.”
She hurries back to the convoy, though Velocity Gal is there first. To her horror, Starla sees Velocity Gal cradling Colonel Storm against her. Parts of his uniform jacket are scorched while others are stained with blood. The grizzled soldier glares up at them with a face smeared with ash and blood and growls, “Goddamned women.”
Then he passes out.
Chapter 2
Starla has to frequently pause in reading the article in her inbox to wipe tears from her eyes. Forty-six dead counting Dalton. Another fifteen, including Colonel Storm, badly injured. And no idea who was responsible.
She had failed them all. Why hadn’t she insisted she stay with the convoy for protection? Why had she let herself get so lax? Because of this, nearly fifty people are dead, most of them innocent young men and women serving their country. Dead because she hadn’t stopped those killer robots in time.
There’s a knock on the door to her tiny office. Starla furiously wipes at her eyes again before she gets up to unlock it. Kate King is there, a stack of papers in her hand. “Starla? Are you all right?”
“I was reading the news. It’s so terrible,” she says. She sits down on her chair, careful not to collapse on it, which would shatter it. “All those people dead.”
“I know. It’s awful. And with two ‘superheroes’ on the scene too,” Kate says, her voice putting quotes around “superheroes.” At the moment Starla can’t disagree; she certainly hadn’t been very superheroic. “I don’t know what this world’s coming to.”
“I don’t either.”
Kate thrusts the papers at her. “Larry said to run this editorial in the late edition.”
“Sure.”
“Are you going to be all right? Maybe you should go home.”
“I’ll be fine in a minute.”
“All right.” Kate pats Starla on the shoulder. “I’ll be outside if you need to talk.”
Starla nods, but doesn’t say anything. She waits until Kate has gone to lock the door again. After a few minutes the tears dry enough for her to read the editorial. New tears come to her eyes as she reads it.
The headline that will be in giant type once it goes to press shouts, “Where Have You Gone, Apex Man?” The subheader questions, “One Year Later, Are We Better Off With the ‘New’ Super Squad?” The editorial, obviously written by Kate, goes on to question the competence of the female Super Squad who have been standing in for the male squad that disappeared a year earlier.
Kate first questions the handling of Dr. Roboto and his metal dinosaur that nearly destroyed Tokyo. She points out—accurately, to Starla’s dismay—that while Roboto had humiliated the Super Squad by turning them into mockeries of their former selves and then parading them on TV, an ordinary young man had sabotaged Roboto’s weapon. For his heroism the young man—and a dozen soldiers who had accompanied Major Dalton—had been turned into girls. Starla is relieved Kate doesn’t give Melanie Amis’s name, but by now most of the world knows the story.
After this follows a barrage of crime statistics that indicate crime rates have ticked slightly up since the male Super Squad left. Again Starla chides herself for being so lax. She has spent too much t
ime out with Billy and his friends when she should have been on patrol, making the world safe. The same has happened with Allison and Elise as they spend more time with their families. As for Robin and Melanie, they simply aren’t as formidable as the old Midnight Spectre had been; they’re still kids, whether Robin wants to admit that or not.
The article closes by reviewing the attack on the convoy yesterday that had killed almost fifty soldiers. “These girls have proven themselves to be a poor substitute for their male counterparts. Wherever you are, Apex Man, Velocity Man, Midnight Spectre, and Lord Neptune, we need you now more than ever.”
As much as Starla knows she should wad up this editorial and then charge out of the office to confront Kate, she can’t. She thinks of the charred bodies of the dead. She remembers Colonel Storm lying in Velocity Gal’s arms, badly injured. She thinks of the men and women who will have to spend the rest of their lives missing limbs or scarred because of her failure.
Then she jumps out the window.
***
Robin Holloway sits in the bunker beneath her mansion, the pieces spread out around her. She has already had the computer scan and reassemble them, but she could have done it without the computer. She has seen this design before. She never thought she would see it again, especially not as a finished product.
When she hears the careful steps on the stairs, she knows who it is. Despite that she has had access to the bunker for almost a year, Melanie still acts as if Robin is going to ambush her on the stairs. But once Melanie comes into sight, Robin sees this time it’s because Melanie is wearing heels the same royal blue as her dress.
“What are you all dressed up for?” Robin asks. She’s still clad in the Led Zeppelin T-shirt and sweatpants she wore beneath her Midnight Spectre garb.
Melanie’s cheeks flush and she looks down shyly at the floor. At times like this it’s really hard for Robin to believe Melanie used to be a boy named Melvin. “Mom and I are going to Boston today.”
“Boston? Oh, right,” Robin says as she remembers today is the day Melanie moves into the dorms at MIT.
“Were you even going to say goodbye?”
“I’m sure Jasper would have reminded me.”
“I’m glad it’s that important to you.”
“Come on, Mel, don’t be such a girl about it.”
Melanie stamps one of her pumps, which would have tripped her up a year ago. “I am a girl in case you didn’t notice. And so are you. How is it I’ve figured that out and you haven’t?”
“Could we not do this again? I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
“Don’t bother. I’m sure this is way more important to you.”
As Melanie marches up the steps, Robin gets to her feet. “Goddamn it,” she mutters to herself. This is why she never had a steady girlfriend when she was still a man. It’s far too much of a hassle. But Melanie had given up almost everything—including her maleness—in order to save Robin and everyone else from Dr. Roboto. Without that sacrifice, Robin would still be a toddler prancing around in a ballerina costume.
She manages to catch Melanie in the drawing room. She grabs Melanie by the shoulder to spin her around. Robin plants her lips on Melanie’s before Melanie can say anything. As she does, she remembers the other reason why she let Melanie get this close to her.
While Robin is tempted to get the dress off Melanie, she has other ideas. She pushes Robin back gently. “We can’t do that. Not now. Mom’s waiting in the car.”
“Oh, right. Why don’t you and your mom go ahead and I’ll catch up to you at the airport?”
“You promise?”
“I guarantee it.”
“All right, but don’t be late.”
“I won’t.” She gives Melanie a peck before they separate. Robin trots upstairs to her bedroom. While she doesn’t look it, her bedroom looks like it belongs to a refined young lady thanks to Jasper tidying up after her. He’s putting away a batch of T-shirts and jeans when she bursts into the room.
“Why didn’t you tell me Melanie was leaving today?” she asks.
“Forgive me, Mistress Robin, but I thought you knew.”
Robin should have known. Melanie has been talking about going to MIT for six months now. Robin can already hear Dr. Hanover saying she “forgot” because she resents Melanie for leaving her. But no, Robin has been busy the last few weeks with Dalton’s trial and sentencing and now the attack on her convoy last night.
She’s not surprised Jasper already has an outfit laid out for her. She frowns at the light green summer dress similar to Melanie’s blue one. She has been a girl for nearly a year, but she still hates to wear skirts and heels.
Since she’s in a hurry, Robin only puts on a coat of lipstick and a touch of blush. She pats down the red hair she keeps short not just to seem more butch but also to make it harder for a criminal to grab her. She only needed to get her hair pulled once to realize the wisdom of this.
Jasper waits for her downstairs. As she usually does, she feels like a little girl when he smiles indulgently at her. “You look lovely, Mistress Robin.”
“Don’t start with me. Just get the car.”
While Midnight Spectre’s souped-up Maserati would be faster, the Benz is far less conspicuous. Robin sits in the backseat with her iPad; the pad is linked to the computer in the bunker to let her view her findings from the wreckage salvaged from the attack. She goes over it again, hoping she missed something the first time.
She didn’t. These robots are exactly the ones Ezekiel Stanford drew up so long ago with Robin’s input. The robots had been designed as a failsafe; in an emergency they could flood the streets of Redoubt City to restore law and order.
But they’d never produced more than a prototype. Zeke had become skeptical of the project, thinking it could too easily fall into the wrong hands. Robin had gone along with it and after Zeke’s death, she’d forgotten about the project. Apparently, his worst fears have been realized—the project has fallen into the wrong hands.
What she doesn’t understand is why those wrong hands would take out Carrie Dalton. Thanks to Roboto, Dalton had the mind of a kindergartner. She had no military secrets to divulge, which gave her no value to anyone.
The only reason Robin can think of is it might have been a prestige hit. Like when an inmate kills an infamous criminal in jail to spread his own glory and fame. Someone might have taken Dalton out as a way to show the criminal underworld he or she meant business. Embarrassing the Super Squad in the process will certainly help that.
Robin puts the iPad away as Jasper pulls up to the airport terminal. It’s easy enough to see Melanie in her bright blue dress. Even if Robin couldn’t see her, she could hear Melanie’s mother from across the terminal. “You be very careful in those dorms. I don’t want you going to any wild parties. I’m not paying all this money so you can smoke weed and drink beer.”
“I know, Mom,” Melanie says. Robin is sure Melanie rolls her eyes to accompany this. Then she sees Robin and breaks into a run. It’s like a corny romantic movie as Melanie races into her arms. Except since Melanie is six inches taller and a few pounds heavier, Robin is the one who gets lifted from her feet. “I knew you’d come.”
“I promised, didn’t I?”
“I’m going to miss you so much,” Melanie says. The tears have started to flow now from Melanie’s eyes. “I’ll Skype you as soon as I get there.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Are you going to be OK without me? I mean, at night?”
“I can handle it.”
“Don’t do anything stupid. You’re not Rob Holloway anymore, remember?”
“I know.” It’s Robin’s turn to roll her eyes. “You sound like Jasper.”
“Well, maybe we both know you really well.”
“Could you stop worrying about me and worry about yourself? Remember what I told you: don’t let any of those uptight little shits give you crap about what happened to you. You’re better than all of them.”
&n
bsp; “I’ll remember.”
“I’m sure you’re going to do fine. When you get back, I’ll have a sweet job at Holloway Corp for you.”
“That’s favoritism, isn’t it?”
“Of course,” Robin says with a smile. She hesitates for a moment before she kisses Melanie on the lips. Despite that she and Melanie have been together for nearly a year and despite all her sessions with Dr. Hanover to try to help her adjust, Robin still feels uncomfortable kissing a girl as a girl. Goddamned dykes, she can always hear the old her grumble. It’s not helped when she sees the way Melanie’s mom looks at them; she has an even harder time accepting the changes in her son’s life.
“I love you,” Melanie whispers.
“I love you too,” Robin says and as always she’s surprised to realize she means it. “Stay safe.”
“You too.”
Then they pull apart and Robin is left to stand there as Melanie wheels her suitcase over to the security line.
Chapter 3
Dr. Allison Sable wakes up to someone shaking her shoulder. She looks up to see Sally behind her, a worried expression on her face. “The security guard let you in?” Allison asks as she resettles her glasses on her face.
“I was worried. You didn’t come home last night.” Sally gestures to the equipment in the lab. “What’s going on here?”
“Oh, I just wanted to take a look at some things.”
“And it couldn’t wait until after breakfast?”
Allison runs a hand through her hair to smooth it down. She probably looks like a mess since she fell asleep at her desk at Grant Laboratories. She doesn’t remember when she fell asleep; from the clock it must have been two or three hours ago. “I’m sorry.”
Girl Power Omnibus (Gender Swap Superhero Fiction) Page 23