Kuff was on the second part of the list: SFPD officers the Shadow Court had provided blackmail material on. Detective Kuff was having an affair, and had been for a couple of years. The Court had sold that information to the Nine Kings a year ago, so the Kings had their claws in the lead detective on the Snapshot case. They really had this situation under tight control.
‘Rumours continue to fly regarding what is described as “strange activity” at the Fullerton Technologies facility in Hunter’s Point,’ the newsreader said, kicking off another story. ‘Conspiracy theorists believe that FTI are working with the UID and UoU to analyse a crashed UFO. Experts have pointed to the presence of the model and heroine of New Millennium City, Cygnus, to indicate that the project is more likely to be some analysis of Ultrahuman powers. Cygnus is not noted for a scientific background and is likely one of the subjects.’
Andrea grinned. ‘Some experts,’ she said.
~~~
Jennifer Pulli pushed the image-enhancement goggles she was using up onto her forehead and turned around. She had been examining the seams and fittings on the rear hull of the spacecraft for thirty minutes, and for fifteen of those she had had the uncomfortable feeling that she was being watched.
Sure enough, over by the control area where the simply amazing Doctor Ultimate was hard at work, Cygnus and a tall brunette Jennifer vaguely recognised were leaning against a table and staring at her. Well, enough was enough. Ultrahuman powerhouse or not, Jennifer was not having Cygnus staring at her for no apparent reason. It was… unsettling. She marched over to the couple, coming to a stop in a sort of annoyed, braced-for-combat stance.
‘Hello,’ Jennifer said. ‘You’re Cygnus, right?’
‘That’s me,’ Cygnus replied. ‘This is my girlfriend, June.’
‘Good afternoon.’ Jennifer gave June a nod. ‘Could I ask you why you seem to be paying me so much attention? Is there something wrong with my work?’
‘Don’t think so… Not sure I’d know if there was.’
‘It’s nothing like that,’ June said, smiling.
‘Then–’ Jennifer began.
‘We were wondering what you look like naked.’
Jennifer’s eyes widened and her jaw worked for a second. ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Have you seen the calendar we did last year? The charity one?’
That explained where Jennifer had seen June before: she did not own a copy, but that calendar was on walls all over FTI. ‘Yes. I’ve seen it.’
‘Well, Svetilo and I are organising another one. We’re providing additional support for Ever’s projects in the Everglades and starting up a fund to rejuvenate some of the areas of New Millennium City damaged in the riots.’
Jennifer managed a tight smile. ‘That’s very noble of you, but–’
‘So we were trying to work out whether you might be interested in a little work outside your normal arena.’
‘We thought we could do a few shots in the Everglades,’ Cygnus went on. ‘Ever’s rather fond of FTI at the moment and this would sort of commemorate the nanotech project out there.’
‘Uh… I… I wasn’t on that project.’
‘I know. I asked Elaine, but she said no one would care if we stuck you in a bikini and had you pretending to sample the water or something.’
‘Oh.’
‘So what do you think?’ June said. ‘We’d need you in Miami for the second week in November. You don’t have to give me an answer now, but soon would be good.’
‘Uh… I, uh… I don’t think I could. I mean, I’m not a model.’
‘Neither is Cygnus. Or Ever. Twilight’s doing it this year and she’s about the most un-model-like Ultra you can imagine. Think about it.’
‘Well, I… No… I mean…’
‘Just think about it,’ June repeated, and watched as the confused engineer wandered back to her work.
‘Stop freaking out my engineers,’ Bianca said, walking up behind June and Cygnus.
June looked around at Bianca and smiled. ‘She’ll come round. It’s for a good cause and she’s a little flattered. And it’s good publicity for FTI.’ June pursed her lips, a twinkle in her eye. ‘You know, you look really fantastic in a bikini…’
Bianca held her hands up. ‘Oh no. You’re not getting me in front of a camera. And I’m going to run screaming from the building now before you can change my mind.’
Cygnus grinned. ‘Wise is the woman who knows when to run from a fight she cannot win.’
‘Damn right.’
~~~
Andrea lay in the hot tub, letting the water stream around her and relax tensions in her muscles she had not realised were there. In her haste to get to San Francisco, she had neglected to pack her one and only swimsuit, which was distinctly conservative, so she was naked, but there was no one else around and she had a towel to wrap herself in when she climbed out.
‘You know, we should probably get a bikini,’ Twilight commented.
‘When do we need a bikini?’ Andrea replied.
‘Well… We’ll probably end up in one for the photoshoots.’
‘One, November in New Millennium City and you think they’ll put us in a bikini? And two, if they do, then they’ll supply it. That tiny little white thing Cygnus has? She got that from the last shoot.’
‘It doesn’t fit her. Her boobs practically hang out of it.’
‘I believe that’s the point.’
‘Oh… Yeah, that makes sense.’
Andrea grinned. ‘You are such a contradiction.’
‘Me?’
‘Yes, you. You’re like this super-confident, sexy, shadowy huntress. I am going to say “vixen” here and mean it. But you’re weirdly naïve.’
‘I know,’ Twilight replied, her tone a little despondent. ‘The confidence really works against me sometimes. That time Jacob put his finger in–’
‘Yeah, well, that caught me by surprise at the time. I didn’t think he was that kinky.’
Twilight giggled. ‘Absolutely drove me nuts, but it was a bit of a shock.’
‘I noticed.’ Andrea’s eyes opened at a sound to her right. She moved, swinging her body around to lean on the edge of the tub, which had the added advantage of hiding her breasts. A teenage girl with long blonde hair was stepping onto the decking, eyes widening as she spotted Andrea looking out at her.
‘Oh! Sorry. I was looking for Bianca…’
‘She’s at work,’ Andrea explained. ‘You must be Marie. I’m Andrea.’
Marie took a few steps closer. ‘Your eyes… You’re Twilight. I’ve seen your picture on the TV.’
‘Yeah, that’s me. Is there something I can help with or do you want me to give Bianca a message?’
‘Oh… Uh… Well, it’s kind of…’
‘Hey, I’m an Ultra. We’re really good at keeping secrets, if that’s the problem.’
Marie fidgeted for a second. ‘There’s this boy…’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘Rory Taylor-May. Bianca warned me about him and I’ve been trying to avoid him, but he’s been kind of…’
‘Pushy?’
‘Yeah. Kind of. I’m not sure what to do about it.’
Andrea nodded. ‘I’m not much use for advice on that kind of thing. I was never much into boys at your age.’ Marie raised an eyebrow as though that was somewhat unbelievable. ‘You’ve told him you’re not interested?’
‘That just seemed to make him more determined.’
‘Huh. That sort. Look, I’ll pass the message on to your aunt and I’m sure she can come up with something. Hey, shouldn’t you be in school?’
‘Uh, it’s almost four thirty. I’ve been out for a while.’
Andrea sighed. ‘I didn’t realise it was that late.’ She grabbed her towel from the side of the tub and stood up, wrapping the towel as she went.
‘Oh…’ Marie breathed. ‘Is there like an ounce of fat on your body?’
Andrea fixed the towel in place and flashed Marie a grin. �
�Yes, several, and I will not be responsible for your body image issues. I do a lot of exercise. It’s kind of part of the deal. You’re an attractive girl, otherwise this Rory creep wouldn’t be chasing you.’
Marie grimaced. ‘Well, yeah, but…’ She rubbed a hand over her stomach.
‘How old are you?’
‘Fifteen.’
‘If you’re still worried about that when you’re eighteen, it’s time to look at your lifestyle.’ Andrea stepped over the edge of the tub with graceful ease and smiled. ‘Moderate exercise, good diet, and don’t go around comparing yourself to abnormal people. You’re a teenager, Marie, you’ve got enough problems without worrying about how you don’t look like a woman who’s spent nearly half her life training to fight seven men at once.’
Marie smiled back. ‘You’re right, I do. Like the History test I have tomorrow morning.’
‘I feel your pain.’ Andrea watched Marie walk off toward the larger house and then turned around, padding lightly across the decking to the front door. Once inside, she went to the phone and dialled.
‘Epps,’ said the voice on the other end.
‘Mister Epps, it’s Andrea Morgan. I have another little research task for you. It’s personal, and not massively urgent. Just call me when you’ve got something.’
‘Okay, Grand Master. What do you need?’ Andrea could almost hear the young man’s Adam’s apple bobbing: the Grand Master was calling him personally!
‘I need anything we have or can get on someone called Rory Taylor-May…’
~~~
‘I’ll go have a chat with her,’ Bianca said, ‘but I’m not sure there’s much I can really do aside from bolster her confidence and tell her to keep saying no. And I think you already told her that.’
‘Yeah, but I’m the stranger with the no-fat body, and you’re her aunt,’ Andrea replied. ‘I notice she doesn’t call you “Aunt Bianca.”’
Bianca smiled. ‘She decided she was too old for that last year. I’d already decided I was too young for that, so it’s fine by me.’
‘Fair enough. Well, I could maybe do something about him. Depends how far you feel like taking it.’
‘Uh… What do you mean?’
‘I asked my contacts to look up Rory.’
‘Uh…’
‘Not much on him aside from the paternity test his lawyers suppressed. His father, however, is very interesting, and it took no time at all to get the information.’
Bianca looked up from the vegetables she was cutting. ‘Do I want to know what Gregory Taylor-May is up to? I never liked the man, but–’
‘Embezzlement, tax fraud, and if the incident with the waitress is anything to go by, young Rory is taking after his father, but he’s got quite a way to go to catch up. I could go give Rory a bit of a scare. Persuade him to try a new path, so to speak.’
There was a pause. ‘Let me think about it. I’ll talk to Marie and see whether this is really a problem.’
‘Fair enough. You know, you don’t have to do that. You’re going out to dinner.’
‘I know, but… I’m the hostess, you know?’
‘No. I’ve never really done that kind of thing.’
Bianca shrugged. ‘This is just going in the oven and the three of you can eat before you head out to Alcatraz.’
‘And doesn’t that sound ominous.’
‘Well, you’re going to talk to Lament…’
‘Huh.’ Andrea looked around as June stepped up behind her, smiling.
‘Strip,’ June commanded.
‘June, I don’t look a thing like Cygnus,’ Andrea responded.
June held up the scanner she had previously used on Cygnus. ‘I was looking at fabrics for Cygnus’s costume and I saw some that would be perfect for you.’
‘I’ve got–’
‘You asked me to design you a costume when you got your new powers and I said there wasn’t time. Now there’s time. You’re getting a new costume.’
‘I wouldn’t argue,’ Bianca said. ‘She looks very determined.’
‘I am,’ June agreed. ‘And you’re next.’
‘What?! I don’t need a costume.’
June giggled. ‘What’s that got to do with it? I just want to get you naked.’
~~~
‘The city government put together the Stars’ base a few years back,’ Elaine yelled. She was in Ultramech’s arms as he flew her out to the island from Hunter’s Point. Cygnus was carrying a vaguely unhappy Twilight. ‘They built it in the old powerhouse building, which is kind of perfect for us. There’s plenty of space, and the old smoke stack is perfect for mounting communications, radar, all that jazz.’
‘Must be nice,’ Cygnus called back, ‘having a city that builds you a base to work out of.’
‘I’m fairly sure they just wanted us somewhere out of the way where they could keep an eye on us.’
‘Cuts down the collateral damage if someone attacks you,’ Twilight suggested.
‘Something like that, yeah.’ Ultramech started to descend as Elaine said it. ‘Just follow us down. We’ll head straight in.’
Alcatraz Island had been occupied, one way or another, since about eighteen fifty. The famous prison had actually lasted only twenty-nine years, despite its formidable reputation, because it was too expensive to run. There had been talk of using it to house Ultrahuman criminals but that had been vetoed because of the proximity to San Francisco and problems with salt air corrosion. Now it was a tourist attraction, not least because of the presence of the San Francisco Stars.
The powerhouse was a white, concrete structure with a pitched roof and the tall, slim smoke stack at one end. The windows in it suggested that it had three storeys to it, but it was parked close to the edge of the island which made judging its internal structure difficult. There was also the fact that both Cygnus and Twilight could see that all the windows were covered over on the inside with a dark-grey wall: the historic building was a shell with the real base hidden within it.
They landed on the road beside the building and Elaine led the way to a door which appeared to go in on the second floor, accessed via a short bridge from the road. Elaine stopped on the bridge and leaned toward a panel beside the door. ‘Backroom, Ultramech, and two guests,’ she said. A light flashed green on the panel, and the door slid open with a slight hiss.
‘Okay,’ Elaine said as they walked into a lobby area, ‘everyone should be here. Lament likes to have a meeting before anyone goes out on patrol, though only Bony and Fuego really do that regularly. If there’s anything major to discuss, she wants to make sure everyone’s there to discuss it.’
‘Seems fair,’ Cygnus said. ‘I guess we do that, though it’s easier since we both live in the same house.’
‘More convenient than having to get out here,’ Twilight said. ‘How do the others manage it?’
‘By boat,’ Elaine replied. ‘Ultramech’s the only one of us who can fly. Well, Muse can sort of fly, but she lives here anyway.’
‘So none of the Stars get seasick.’
‘Actually, Snapshot did. He kind of hated this place.’ Elaine stopped at the inner door and put her hand on a plate beside it. There was a flicker of green light followed by the door opening, and they walked into the Stars’ HQ.
They walked into a large room with a double-height ceiling for about half the length where the ceiling lowered. In the centre of the taller section was a large model of San Francisco set on a low platform, presumably for planning operations. At the back, where the ceiling was lower, the room was split between a kitchen, a lounge, and what looked like a command-and-control centre. The four other active Stars were standing around the model, but they all looked toward the door as Elaine entered, followed by Cygnus and Twilight, and with Ultramech bringing up the rear.
‘You’re a little later than expected, Backroom,’ Lament said. There was that distinct impression again that she was not excited to see her guests. ‘We started without you.’
‘My fa
ult,’ Cygnus said. ‘I misjudged the flight time.’
‘Of course,’ Elaine said, ‘you’re never late, Lament. Everyone, this is Cygnus and Twilight. And the Stars you haven’t met, girls, are Dali’s Muse, Bonehead, and Fuego.’
They were a bit of a mixed bunch of Ultras. Lament was a tall, willowy woman with pale-blonde hair down to her breasts and rather cold blue eyes. She was attractive, smooth-skinned with a slightly rounded face and a small nose. She carried her authority as leader of the Stars like a shield. Her costume was fairly simple and flowing: a greenish-gold-coloured dress which fell to mid-calf on the left side and had a single sleeve on the right. The deep-cut neckline did not come with expansive cleavage.
Beside her, Dali’s Muse was a tiny, slightly strange-looking girl with a face that spoke of some oriental heritage. Her hair was a blue-green page boy cut which framed a heart-shaped face. Her eyes were large and green, and ringed in multicoloured make-up forming abstract patterns along with cog shapes of various sizes over her left cheek. Her pouting lips were bright pink. She wore a costume which seemed to be composed of various strips of blue-green and pink leather, and she was barefoot. And she was looking at the newcomers with what appeared to be a confused expression.
Bonehead was a huge, almost bald man with muscles on his muscles and ears which poked out like the handles on a coffee mug. He had fairly heavy features, thick and solid, with a broad nose and blue eyes. He was dressed in heavy leather and army boots. He, at least, was smiling.
Fuego was a Hispanic man, quite handsome with a tall, black crewcut, dark-green eyes, and what was probably designer stubble. Nowhere near the size of his friend, he was still well-muscled and he had a hairy chest which was quite visible, along with the large tattoo on his left arm, since his costume looked like something a Mongol warrior might wear, from the waist down. Broad belts in gold and red wrapped his torso, wide golden pantaloons fell into cloth greaves, and he had similarly designed gloves around his forearms and over the backs of his hands. He was looking like a man who was angry about something, though what was an open question.
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