At the table was a sight Kate hadn’t seen in days: a man. Next to him was the girl she recognized as the Outcast. “Are you all right?” Outcast asked. “There should be some bandages and such in the bathroom. Or if you need a snack—”
“I’m fine,” Kate said. She stuck out her hand. “Kate King, the Atomic City Star. We met a few times at press conferences but I’ve put on a little weight. And taken off a few years.”
“That’s all right, Ms. King. It’s been the same for most everyone else.”
“Not your friend there. How’d he get missed?”
“I’m Pacifican,” he said. His cheeks reddened as he added, “Mostly. I was underwater. So was Outcast.”
“And the three lovely ladies are the ones you two have recruited to save the world?”
“We’re trying. You might be able to help us with that. I’m sure you know a lot more about the situation here than we do.”
“I think I can help,” she said, relieved that she might finally be of real use to the survivors at St. Jerome’s. “Whatever you’re going to do, I hope you do it quick. I’ve got about a thousand friends who could get taken any minute now.”
“We’ll do everything we can for them,” Outcast said.
Hitter and the other girl joined them in the room. When they were introduced, Kate found out the girl in the armor actually was Ion Man, now Ion Girl. It was a bit surreal to see such nasty villains reduced to cute little girls. Then again they were probably as surprised to see a tenacious reporter reduced to a chubby geek.
Outcast clapped her hands and said, “Now that we all know each other, let’s get down to work.”
Chapter 15
No matter how many times Melanie stared at the maps, she couldn’t find a solution. She wished Robin were here to help her come up with a plan. Midnight Spectre had always been the one to make up the strategies; the Outcast rode her coattails like a good sidekick.
The apartment they had commandeered was silent except for Garlak’s snoring, which at this point had become like white noise to Melanie. She wished she could sleep, but she couldn’t, not until she figured this out.
From what Kate King had told them, the self-promoted General Carnage had locked most of the population up in various camps around the city. With at least ten camps and only five members of the Super Squad Auxiliary, there was no way they could simultaneously free all the prisoners. If they didn’t, then they risked that guards at prison camps not under attack would execute their charges or use them as human shields.
She needed an army for this. A couple teams of Green Berets or SEALs or Rangers to help her team secure the objectives. At this point she might as well wish for a herd of unicorns. All those Special Forces troops were cowering in a prison camp or some other hole.
Melanie had asked Kate about the survivors at St. Jerome’s, but from what Kate said there were only a handful capable of fighting and none of them had any actual training. No matter how she looked at it, Melanie couldn’t see any way to pull it off without substantial casualties. In a war casualties could be deemed “acceptable losses” but with things in such a fragile state there were no acceptable losses. If any of the civilians died, the Super Squad Auxiliary would lose its shred of credibility.
“Can’t sleep?” Diane asked from the kitchen.
“I’m just thinking.”
The assassin stepped into the dining room with two mugs of coffee. She set one down in front of Melanie. “It is quite a fix we’re in here.”
“You think I was wrong to come here?”
“All that Doolittle Raid stuff sounded good. I suppose it worked out better for that bloke.”
“So what should I do now, quit? We’d lose face to the whole world.”
Diane sipped from her mug. She studied the maps. “Tell me, mate, you ever play chess?”
“I was president of the chess club in high school. Back when I was still a boy.”
“Then you know what the object of the game is, yeah?”
“Capture the king.” Melanie shook her head. “We can’t do that. We move on Carnage and she’ll have her troops kill the prisoners.”
“That’s only if she can tell them.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Something like this, you don’t need the Super Squad Auxiliary. You need an assassin.”
“Like you, for instance?”
“I was thinking of Garlak, but your idea might work better.”
“You think you can get in there and capture the king?”
“Actually I was thinking we might get in there.”
“You and me?”
“Before they put Geiger in with me, Carnage and I shared a cell in the joint. He was always the sort who let his little general do the thinking for him, if you know what I mean.”
“Not really.”
“In the spy game they call it a ‘honey pot.’ It means you send a girl in there to seduce the bloke and then at the right moment she snuffs him out or steals the plans or what have you.”
Melanie’s face turned warm at this. “I don’t think I could do that.”
“It’s not my first option either, love, but I don’t see much other choice.”
With a sigh, she had to accept Diane was right. This might be the only chance they had to save Atomic City without massive casualties. “All right, let’s do it.”
***
In all her years as a man and now a woman, Diane had never felt so ridiculous. She tried to smooth down her skirt, not that it would do much good. The bloody thing barely covered her naughty bits. It would be pretty obvious to anyone they passed she wasn’t wearing undergarments either.
Diane had used the honey pot before as a man. There’d been some old bird at a resort in Jamaica whose husband wanted her out of the picture so he could marry his much-younger mistress without the messiness of a divorce. Hitter plied the old bird with some drinks and cheap flattery; between that and the tight shirt and pants he’d been wearing, she wasted no time to invite him up. He smothered her with a pillow before she even got her bra off, which he had considered a bonus.
This would be far more humiliating. She and Melanie were dressed in identical cheerleader outfits they’d taken from a high school gym. The sweaters and skirts left little to the imagination. They put their hair into matching pigtails and with some makeup Diane had painted freckles onto Melanie’s cheeks to make them look like if not identical twins then at least sisters.
Diane had to hope Carnage’s tastes hadn’t changed much in the last few years. It was possible that becoming a woman might have made her yearn for men, in which case they should have brought Paul with them. Diane didn’t find this very likely; she didn’t have any desire for men, even when she’d gotten a good look at the merman’s six-pack abs and that noticeable bulge beneath his loincloth. The thought of it only made her jealous for when she’d possessed those attributes.
Her thoughts were disrupted when she stumbled on the stiletto heels of her boots. Melanie caught her before she could fall. “These take some getting used to,” she said. “It took me months before I could do it.”
“I’d like to strangle whoever came up with these.”
“I bet you liked to see women in them, didn’t you?”
“So you’re saying the shoe’s on the other foot, yeah?”
“Ha. I suppose so.”
“My grandma always said I’d get what was coming to me.”
“What happened to her?”
“Died a long time ago,” Diane said before she could stop herself. “You trying to analyze me now?”
“Just passing the time. And it doesn’t hurt to know more about your team.”
“There’s not much to know. After she died, I bounced around a few homes, fell in with a bad crowd, and got myself a job killing people.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“After a while you stop worrying about all that morality. It becomes like any job. Only it’s someone else’s time card gettin
g punched.”
“That’s a pretty crass attitude. Those were real people. They had families, people who loved them.”
“And people who hated them enough to hire me.”
Melanie came to a stop. She looked Diane in the eyes. “You want to know what I think? I think you aren’t really that cold. I think you’ve talked yourself into thinking that way so you can live with the guilt.”
“Don’t try any of that Freudian bullshit on me. You don’t know me.”
“I do know you. Robin—Midnight Spectre—is the same way. Except she turned her hurt into something useful, to help the world. I think you can do the same.”
“A cape and tights isn’t my thing, love. I prefer cold hard cash.”
“Then why are you still here? Don’t tell me you and Tonya haven’t thought up some ways around the devices I tagged you with.”
“Maybe I’m protecting my business interests. If the world goes to shit, there’s no need for someone like me anymore.”
“Uh-huh,” Melanie said with such smugness that Diane wanted to punch her. She started off again. Grumbling curse words under her breath, Diane fell in behind her.
***
General Carnage had turned the Oppenheimer Hotel into her personal living quarters. From what Kate King said, the warlord was ensconced on the top floor, in the presidential suite. That had been part of the reason Melanie signed off on Diane’s plan; to get up there with the jetcopter would have made far too much noise.
Instead they hoped to go in through the front door. Melanie let Diane take the lead as they approached a pair of Stimmed up goons by the front doors. They leered in unison at Diane and Melanie. “You girls a little lost?” one asked.
Diane ran a finger along her lips before she said in a flawless American accent, “We were hoping to see the general. She said she was getting lonely.”
“She didn’t tell us nothing,” one of the goons said.
“She must have forgot,” Diane said.
“The general wouldn’t forget you, honey.”
While Melanie braced herself to start running, Diane only pouted. “You got us. The general didn’t send for us. We thought we’d surprise her, if you know what I mean.”
“Uh-huh. She don’t like surprises.”
Diane actually rubbed up against the guard. For someone who had only been a girl for a few days, she had a pretty firm grasp of the mechanics of seduction. “I think she’ll like this surprise.” Diane jerked her head slightly. Melanie realized this was her cue to grind against the guard’s other side. “And after she’s done, maybe we could spend some time with you. What do you say?”
“How about I sample the goods first?”
Melanie froze at this, but Diane didn’t even flinch. “Lead on, sweetheart.”
***
Diane locked the bathroom door and then closed it. “That should hold those birds for a little while,” she said.
Melanie sat on the bed, her body trembling. She had seen a lot worse than a completely naked Diane knocking out one guard with a table lamp and the other with a telephone in the blink of an eye. Yet she had never felt so frightened before.
Diane began to put on her cheerleader outfit again. “It’s all over, love. Now we go on up to the big cheese.”
“They were going to rape us, weren’t they?”
“I’m not sure it would really be rape. We did lead them on a bit.” Diane studied Melanie for a moment. “Christ, you’re not a virgin, are you?”
“No! Robin and I did it all the time.”
“You worried about being unfaithful to her?”
“No. I don’t know.” Melanie hated herself for crying. “I’m sorry.”
Diane sat next to her on the bed and then put an arm around her. “Come on, you can talk to Auntie Diane.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I guess I’m not cut out to be a secret agent.”
“You can stay here and watch the prisoners if you want.”
“No, I should go with you. You’ll need me.”
“If it helps, think of it like we’re in a play. You’re playing the part of a slutty gold digger.”
“Is it that easy?”
“It does take some practice. Like walking in these heels.”
Melanie smiled at this. “I guess so.” She dabbed at her eyes and hoped her makeup wasn’t ruined. “Do I look all right?”
“It’ll be fine. Try to follow my lead.”
Melanie nodded. She let Diane lead the way again as they went up the stairs to the penthouse. A couple more guards waited for them there. “Hey girls,” Diane said as she sashayed towards them. “Your friends downstairs sent us up for the general.”
“They didn’t tell us nothing.”
“They were a little busy, if you know what I mean.”
While Diane flirted with the guards, Melanie tried to stand as seductively as she could. Her stomach began to churn and again her muscles tensed as she prepared to run. This wasn’t going to work. These guards weren’t going to let them in—
“I’ll go check to make sure the general’s available,” one said. She stepped into the suite. Diane ran one hand along the other’s chest, fondling her breasts as they waited. If this didn’t work, they would have a hell of a time getting out of here. Most likely they’d be trapped—
The door opened. The guard motioned for Diane to go inside. Melanie followed, hoping she didn’t trip or do anything equally stupid now. She managed not to make a fool of herself as they entered the suite.
With her flame-red hair and pale skin, the woman looked as if she could be Robin’s mom. This prompted Melanie to blush. She doubted Robin’s mom would have looked at them the way the general was. “What do we have here?” she asked.
“A little present from a grateful people,” Diane said. She snuggled up against Melanie, whose blush intensified. “How about we double your pleasure?”
“You were reading my mind.” General Carnage motioned for them to follow her through the lavish suite, into the bedroom. Melanie’s steps became unsteady as she saw all the S&M paraphernalia the general had set up in the bedroom.
“So where do we start?”
Diane ran a hand along the general’s bare chest. She gently pushed the woman down onto the bed. “I was thinking you could sit there and watch my sister and me. Then we can get a little more interactive.”
Melanie had to force herself not to cry as Diane started to grind against her. As the assassin kissed her neck, Melanie thought of Robin and how much she missed her. With her eyes closed, she imagined Diane was Robin, that they were alone in her bedroom at the mansion. It wasn’t until she heard another woman moan that she remembered where she was.
Diane pulled away from Melanie to ease herself on the bed. She positioned herself behind General Carnage, her hands running along the woman’s back. “Don’t get too wet yet, honey,” Diane whispered. “We’ve only just started.”
Melanie did her best to gyrate seductively while Diane massaged the woman’s back. There was no way for the general to see Diane take out the garrote she’d disguised as a hair tie. To Melanie’s surprise the general actually smiled when Diane began strangling her. “Yeah, do it harder,” she whispered.
Melanie looked to Diane, who shrugged. She stopped dancing and then said, “I don’t think you understand the situation, ‘General.’ I’m Outcast and this is my associate Hitter. We’re from the Super Squad Auxiliary.”
“And I’ve been a bad girl, haven’t I? You going to punish me now?”
“She’s a bit thick, this one,” Diane said in her British accent. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised by it.”
Melanie went over to the general’s closet. She was relieved to find a gray overcoat that looked more than big enough. She slipped the overcoat on and then tied it as tight as she could. She folded her arms over her chest. “The game’s over, Carnage. You’re going to free all the prisoners you’ve taken and tell your forces to stand down.”
�
�Or what?”
“Or I’ll strangle you,” Diane said. “And trust me, love, there’s no safe word.”
“You kill me and my girls will slaughter all those helpless prisoners.”
“You might kill some, but the rest of my team is already in place to retake some of the camps. You won’t get everyone,” Melanie bluffed. She knew there were no acceptable casualties, but General Carnage didn’t know she knew that—or so she hoped.
Diane tightened the garrote. This added some incentive for the general to blink first. “I’ll call them off, but don’t expect them to obey.”
“I’m sure you can be convincing, love,” Diane said. She surprised Melanie and the general by kissing the woman on the lips. Diane loosened the garrote. “Now, take us to the radio room.”
Chapter 16
Kila had only been to Commander Sulfam’s office a half-dozen times before. The commander himself didn’t visit the office much more frequently, which explained why if not for the name plaque on the desk no one might have known to whom the office belonged. Sulfam shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “You wished to discuss something, Lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir. I would like to recommend a mistrial in the Kor-Gan’s case.”
“Why?”
“I’ve obtained some information that casts new light on the case.”
“Explain.”
It was Kila’s turn to shift uncomfortably. This could be the end of her career as a Peacekeeper, but she didn’t see where she had much choice. “The Elders promised me information on the case. When it was not delivered, I went to the Master Archive.”
“Access to the Master Archive is forbidden for all but the most senior Peacekeepers.”
“I know, sir. I believed in this case it was necessary to aid my client’s defense.”
“Your client is already guilty.”
“I disagree, sir.”
Sulfam snapped his claws impatiently. “You’re starting to believe her lies?”
“No, sir. When I examined the information in the Master Archive, I discovered some of the files had been tampered with.”
“That’s impossible. Only the Elders can change information in the archive.”
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