Frostburn (Ultrahumans Book 4)

by Niall Teasdale

  Andrea nodded slowly. ‘The way your eyes shine through the visor… That’s kind of awesome, actually. But it works without the helmet?’

  ‘The helmet provides a few features which may be useful,’ Doctor Ultimate supplied from behind her. ‘Environmental monitoring, built-in communications, a fully sealed environment with air filters. However, in all but the warmest conditions, the suit will suffice.’ He paused. ‘Oh, it’s lightly armoured and insulated. It’s more or less knife-proof and it will resist heat, but try to avoid large-scale fires and guns.’

  ‘I think I can remember that,’ Jacob said.

  ‘Good. Now, before we set you free to wander New Millennium City, I believe Andrea has a date with an environment chamber.’

  Andrea nodded. ‘Yeah. It would be useful to know roughly how cold I can actually go.’ She raised an eyebrow, looking straight at Jacob. ‘It might put someone’s mind at ease about my being around him for one thing.’

  New Millennium City, MD.

  ‘Okay,’ June said, looking into the box which had been couriered over from San Francisco. ‘We’ve got… wireless scanner unit… manuals on disk, manuals on paper… Aha! Software.’

  ‘You should probably check the installation instructions first,’ Penny said. ‘Always check the manual, otherwise you’re a man.’

  ‘Impetuous me says “stuff the manuals,” but…’ June picked up the thinnest of the booklets in the box and flicked it open. She frowned. ‘Oh…’

  ‘Problem?’

  ‘Well… I suppose I hadn’t considered it, but my laptop’s a little old… Um, actually I’m not sure this would run properly on a new one. Thinking about it, the computer it was running on at FTI was fairly big.’

  ‘We’re going shopping then?’

  ‘I guess…’

  ‘Perhaps I can be of some assistance,’ Denny chimed in.

  June looked up at the big screen. ‘It’s PC software, Denny. I’m sure you could run it really fast, if you could run it, but–’

  ‘I can execute it, June. Elaine and I discussed the possibility of emulating Earth computer systems and I have researched the most common ones. I have a suitable emulator ready for “PC” systems which we can try out with your software.’

  ‘Elaine already supplied remote display software for the laptops,’ Penny said. ‘Should be workable.’

  ‘And I could display the renders on the TV,’ June said. She pulled the software DVD from the box. ‘Where do we put this?’

  Penny got to her feet. ‘Down to the basement then. Elaine installed a DVD drive in there, didn’t she?’

  ‘I have multiple read-only drive units,’ Denny said, sounding rather proud of the fact. ‘I can display “Blu-Ray” and “Four K.”’

  Giggling, Penny started for the stairs. ‘Let’s go load you up then.’

  Antarctica.

  ‘Ninety-two kelvin,’ Doctor Ultimate said, his hands shifting over his keyboard, ‘and that is as low as we are going to go.’

  Inside the chamber, clad in what amounted to a swimsuit and a pair of boots, Andrea looked out at Ultimate and Jacob, and raised her eyebrows. ‘I can go lower. I’m still quite comfortable.’

  ‘I can see that. Biological indicators are stable. No shiver response. No sign of any problems whatsoever. However, much lower and you will have problems.’

  ‘I will?’

  ‘Yes, oxygen liquefies at just above ninety kelvin. Not only would you have some difficulty breathing, but I do not believe you would find standing in a lake of liquid oxygen especially pleasant.’

  ‘Uh… maybe not.’

  ‘I think we’ve established that you are unlikely to run into temperatures you cannot handle. On this planet anyway. I’ll begin raising the temperature again.’

  ‘What’s that in real numbers, Hugh?’ Jacob asked.

  ‘Approximately, minus two hundred and ninety-four degrees Fahrenheit.’

  ‘Right… So I’m going to freeze to death before she does.’

  ‘It would appear that your young lady is quite capable of withstanding anything you might throw at her.’

  ‘Told you so,’ Andrea said.

  ‘Okay,’ Jacob said, holding up his hands. ‘Okay, I give in. I still think we need to be careful since I’m not really sure what I can do with this yet, but okay. Don’t rub it in. No one likes a smartass.’

  Andrea turned her behind to him and patted her butt. ‘Ha! You know you love it.’

  Jacob shrugged. ‘Okay, yeah, you got me on that too.’

  New Millennium City, MD.

  Space conceded defeat in a small portion of Maryland. Physics decided to look the other way. A wormhole opened and Andrea stepped out of it followed a second later by Jacob.

  ‘Yes,’ Andrea said, ‘you have to come in and say hello. You can show off your nice new suit and Heather will be here in a bit to pick us up.’

  ‘But–’

  ‘They want to know you’re all right, Jacob. They’ve put up with news from me ’til now. They want to see you.’

  ‘Yeah, okay. I guess I can put up with some company.’

  Jacob considered he might have been wrong about that when they walked into the lounge and he found Svetilo there as well as Cygnus and June. They did not crowd, however; he was thankful of that since he was not that sort of guy.

  ‘Aside from the bust hand,’ Jacob said in answer to the obvious question, ‘I’m feeling fine. Of course, I’m kind of stuck in this suit until I can work out how to control my powers. Assuming they can be controlled.’

  ‘Positive attitude,’ Cygnus said. ‘They can be controlled and you will control them.’

  Jacob forced a grin. ‘Yeah, okay.’

  ‘Right then,’ June said, getting to her feet. ‘Turn around, let’s have a look at your new fashion statement.’ She watched, lips pursed as Jacob went red and slowly turned on the spot. ‘Not bad… Reasonable blend of form and function. The shoulders give it a bit of a military feel, so that’s nice. I approve.’

  ‘Uh… thanks. Um, how come Miss Zuyev is here?’

  ‘Dom,’ Svetilo said. ‘Dominika if you must. You are Ultra now, not UID. Andrea did not mention fire?’

  ‘Totally forgot,’ Andrea said. ‘If you remember, the fire was the night Jacob had his little incident with Night Shift.’

  ‘Oh, da. Arsonist damaged my apartment building. I am homeless for a couple of weeks. Damage was not extensive, but was strategic.’

  ‘I basically made her stay here,’ Cygnus said. ‘She was house-sitting while we were all away.’

  ‘And she’s a demon as far as cleaning is concerned,’ June added, grinning.

  Jacob nodded. ‘Huh… Well… Any sign of the serial killer?’

  ‘Nothing,’ Andrea said. ‘No sign of Night Shift either, though I haven’t been patrolling for a week. He might have been out looking around.’

  ‘I have not heard of any drug dealers being beaten within inch of their lives,’ Svetilo said. ‘I do not think Night Shift has been out on streets.’

  ‘Special Agent Bryant’s car has entered the property,’ Denny announced.

  Andrea turned and started back toward the front door. ‘Is the coffee on? I’ll let her in.’

  ‘I’m on the coffee,’ June said, springing up.

  Jacob frowned. ‘I was kind of hoping–’

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ Cygnus interrupted. ‘You can sit down for a coffee. We’ll get you caught up on everything that’s happened. Now that you’re back, I expect we’ll get somewhere with that serial killer, and we have an arsonist to nail down.’

  ‘Yeah,’ June said. ‘I should tell you about Cassandra’s prophecy.’

  Jacob looked at them in turn. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Yeah, it sounds like there are a few things I don’t know about.’ He wandered over and took a seat beside Svetilo without really thinking about it. ‘Let’s start with “who is Cassandra?”’

  ~~~

  ‘Okay,’ Andrea said, looking at a panel on th
e wall. ‘Thermostat says the place is sitting at forty-four. Maybe we can talk to Hugh about getting some sort of cosmic cooling system in here because if you have to run your air con all the time, your electricity bill is gonna skyrocket.’

  ‘Yeah, and I’m about to be unemployed,’ Jacob grumbled. At least he was back at home, in his chair. There was no evidence that Night Shift had ever been there, probably because Andrea, Heather, or both had been in and tidied the place up.

  ‘Self-employed. Roman and Hill seemed fairly keen on having a legitimate investigative resource semi-in-house. I think they’ll have plenty of work for the two of you.’

  ‘You know “legitimate investigative resource” is the kind of statement that’s going to make me think twice about this arrangement. Uh, could you give me a hand getting out of this suit? I can do it alone, but it’s easier–’

  ‘Of course I can. Getting you out of that suit is my primary aim at this point.’ Andrea advanced on him with a predatory grin on her face. ‘Maybe that was not the best choice of words. They hire PIs now and then for various purposes. Having you guys in the position you’ll be in lets them be a bit more open about their needs since they know they can trust you.’

  ‘They know that, huh?’ Reaching up, Jacob released the locks on his right pauldron and, seeing how it was done, Andrea did the left.

  ‘Yeah. I told them they could. They’re… connected to my business in Italy.’

  ‘The one you say I’m better off not really knowing much about?’

  ‘That one. Though, when you’re officially not an agent any more, I think we should go visit. It’s really beautiful out there. The view from the watchtower in the castle is amazing.’

  Jacob lifted his neck ring free and then peeled open the front of the suit. ‘Sounds kind of romantic.’

  Andrea grinned and helped him get the suit off his arms. ‘Is that good or bad?’ Now that the outer suit was going, the inner one became visible: a white body stocking which showed off Jacob’s physique rather well. Andrea narrowed her eyes a little.

  ‘Uh… I’ve never really thought of us as romantic. I guess there’s room for a little romance in our relationship. I mean, I don’t think there’s much point in being all secretive about it now, is there?’

  ‘No, and I intend to make use of that fact as much as possible. Have you put on some muscle?’

  ‘Uh… Hugh said something about a concentration of muscle mass and, um, it was “a tendency for male Ultras to exhibit increased strength due to societal stereotypes.”’

  ‘So the upshot of that is that you’re stronger because you think you should be, even if you’ve got cold and ice powers.’

  ‘Well… glaciers are strong.’

  Andrea slapped one of his muscled biceps. ‘That is a huge rationalisation. How much stronger?’

  ‘Not sure. Quite a lot?’

  ‘You’re coming back to the house with me tomorrow. Cygnus has some gear for measuring punches and lifting power.’ Pushing his suit down off his hips, she kept going until her face was level with his groin, then grinned and said, ‘And step out. That undersuit really works for you.’

  ‘It, uh, makes getting the outer one on and off easier and it, uh, conducts heat flow evenly around my body.’

  ‘Heat flow, huh? Certainly making me hot.’ Getting to her feet, she lifted onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. ‘You better not tell me you’re not fit enough for what I’m thinking right now.’

  ‘I’m fit,’ Jacob said. Then he raised his right hand which was wrapped in a metallic framework much lighter than a normal cast. ‘Just, go easy on me. I’m an invalid.’

  ‘Sure you are…’

  7th December.

  ‘Well, you’re punching in the upper percentile of human-normal,’ Cygnus said, ‘and… yeah, your basic lift is a bit over.’

  ‘That’s pretty good,’ Jacob said. ‘I can live with that.’

  ‘Uh-huh. Your masculinity is nice and secure, but… Let’s see if you can push it.’

  ‘Uh…’ Jacob looked around from where he was holding up a bar on a bench press machine to see the blonde Ultra tapping at the attached touchscreen. His arms tried to buckle as the pressure on them increased, he trembled, and then pushed upward. ‘Holy…’

  ‘Yeah, you’re pushing about four tons there. That’s your cosmic energy boost. You are officially a member of the super-strong club.’

  ‘Da,’ Svetilo said from where she was watching, ‘you are almost a match for me.’

  Jacob felt the weight lift, pushed the bar aside, and sat up, stretching his shoulders. ‘What about you, Cygnus?’

  ‘Oh… depends on how I want to use the power.’

  ‘But you’re stronger than us, right? I mean, I doubt I could lift a submarine out of the water…’

  ‘Yeah, well…’

  ‘Tell him, Cygnus,’ Andrea said, grinning.

  ‘Okay, well, last time I measured it with the standard power configuration I use most of the time… I held about ten thousand tons on that test.’

  ‘My masculinity is currently stuffing its fingers in its ears and humming,’ Jacob said. ‘I mean, Dom is one thing, she’s a big girl. I mean, all that muscle, not…’

  ‘Da, I have huge tits too,’ Svetilo said, grinning.

  ‘Thanks for that. But Cygnus is this trim… kind of willowy…’

  ‘I still think you’re hunky,’ Andrea said. ‘Cygnus is all cosmic power and stuff. You’ll get over having her out-lift you eventually.’

  ‘Ha!’ Svetilo barked. ‘You know you two will break hearts if it’s really known that Twilight has boyfriend, da?’

  June, who was using the far lighter weights in the gym, looked around. ‘Wait, you read some of those stories too?’

  ‘Stories?’ Andrea asked.

  ‘Cassandra said they were called “slashfic.” I looked it up and it’s also “shipping,” which is not something that involves moving cargo across water. Lots of Ultra fans think Cygnus and Twilight are an item.’

  ‘And they have very imaginative view of your supposed sex life,’ Svetilo added.

  ‘God, yeah. I mean, I should be horrified, but some of it was really hot.’

  ‘Twi is jumping up and down and yelling “yes” at the top of her lungs,’ Andrea said.

  ‘I’m not sure how I should react to that,’ Jacob said. ‘Uh, either the fiction or Twi’s reaction.’

  ‘I don’t think it’s anything to worry over,’ June said. ‘It’s just the internet. We all know the truth. That’s what counts.’

  ‘Really hot, huh?’ Cygnus asked.

  ‘Really hot. You should read some of them.’

  ‘That sounds horribly embarrassing.’

  ‘Going to do it anyway?’

  Cygnus nodded, adding a resigned sigh. ‘Probably. Yeah.’

  Part Four: Devil’s Due

  San Francisco, CA, 11th December, 2014.

  Christmas was a-coming. Well, it was a couple of weeks away, but well into December as it was, Rachel Halford figured some decorations were in order. It would brighten up her dingy little third-storey apartment on the outskirts of the Tenderloin district and make her feel more like celebrating.

  In truth, her life had taken something of an upturn in the last couple of months and Rachel had things to celebrate this year. The band she sang in was starting to get gigs. There were mutterings of a recording deal. Okay, so tomorrow night’s gig at a biker bar was not what you would call ‘the big time,’ but it fitted their image and the patrons at the place had actually asked for them to come back, apparently. Was that building a fan base? Rachel might have hoped for slightly less testosterone and beer in her fans, but there was that thing about gift horses and mouths.

  Rachel was busy stringing fairy lights around her lounge window when she heard the voice behind her and almost fell off her footstool. ‘Hello, Ray,’ it said, ‘long time, no see.’

  A chill of fear ran up Rachel’s spine and she climbed down with exagge
rated slowness before turning around. ‘Simon. Hi. I, uh…’ There he was, standing in her apartment in a pair of scruffy jeans, a band T-shirt, and a winter jacket that looked new. He was supposed to be–

  ‘Wasn’t expecting to see me here? Hadn’t heard I got out? Maybe you were wondering how I got in? You have to learn to lock your windows. This isn’t a safe neighbourhood.’

  Did he know? Did Simon Taverner, aka Beatdown, know who had sold him out to Lament three years ago? Did he hold grudges that long? Who was she kidding? ‘It’s… nice to see you, Simon. I, uh, didn’t know you were out, no. We were all pretty shocked when you were–’

  ‘Sold out to my bitch of a sister? You should pay more attention to the newspapers, Ray. “Beatdown in Bank Terror.” It’s not exactly a great headline, but they don’t need much when the byline is that I put Lament in the hospital.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Why’d you do it, Ray? The band needed money, I got it, you dropped a dime to the Stars.’

  ‘I didn’t–’

  ‘Don’t. Just… don’t. I know it was you. You were the only one who knew about my… exotic talents. I was going straight, Ray. Just that one job. One job to set us up. Then I could’ve made music, like I want to.’

  ‘You put two security guards in the hospital,’ Rachel responded. She was not getting out of this and she was the kind of girl who got her digs in while she could. ‘One of them will never walk again. You call that going straight, Simon? You think you’d have stopped? No one else does. You’ve been pulling petty crimes for years, you–’

  Sound hit her like a sledgehammer, driving her back into the window. She heard glass crack, felt ribs break, tasted blood in her mouth. She saw Simon moving toward her through vision that was rapidly dimming. As she slipped toward the floor, Rachel’s last thought was that the bikers were going to be disappointed that she missed the gig.

  12th December.

  Damian’s eyes scanned over the scene and his immediate thought was suicide. He was in an alley off Golden Gate Avenue, near the borders of Tenderloin. Up above him was a fire escape and at his feet was the body of a woman who had died the previous night. Either no one had found the body until this morning, or no one had bothered reporting it.