Hunting Mink

by Niall Teasdale

  ~~~

  ‘The San Francisco Police Department is in turmoil this evening as investigation of the link between the Nine Kings tong and the Tong Affirmative Action Task Force continues.’

  Bianca had the big screen down for the evening news, though she was having a little trouble watching it since she was lying on her stomach on one of the sofas. Cygnus, Andrea, and June had settled onto the other one, trying not to giggle.

  The news anchor, a handsome man with a little grey at his temples, which presumably gave an air of authority, continued his report backed by video of various men being led out of buildings in handcuffs. ‘A number of arrests have been made following a raid on the Zhu Holdings building in the Business District by a team of Ultras. Reports indicate that Mink, along with New Millennium City heroines Cygnus and Twilight, and Night Shift entered the building to follow up on evidence suggesting it was the headquarters of an organised crime syndicate. Night Shift was injured in the assault.’

  ‘He must have had his PR people scrabbling like maniacs to spin that,’ Bianca commented.

  ‘What state is he in?’ June asked.

  ‘Hospital says he’ll walk again once the bruising goes down around his spine, but he’s got a cracked vertebra which is going to give him problems for a few months.’

  ‘…senior task force members as well as a number of officers in senior positions in other departments are under investigation,’ the newsreader went on, ‘but the SFPD has been reluctant to issue further details. Detective Raymond Kuff, the officer assigned to the Snapshot murder case, was confirmed to be one of those under investigation after it transpired that he was being blackmailed into focussing on Mink as the only suspect. Detective Kuff was unavailable for comment, but his wife told reporters for this station…’

  The picture changed to an angry woman leaning out of the doorway of her house in a housecoat. ‘That cheating bastard deserves all he gets! I hope they give him the chair!’

  The newsreader returned, apparently trying not to grin. ‘It has also been confirmed that the real culprit in the Snapshot case has been detained pending further investigation and that the warrant for Mink’s arrest has been rescinded. Mink, as usual, was not available for comment.’

  ‘I am not doing interviews with my ass glowing like a beacon,’ Bianca said. Then she glared at the three giggling women across the coffee table between the sofas. ‘It’s all right for you, Andrea. You’re invulnerable in shadows.’ Pause. ‘It’s not funny. And someone answer the damn phone!’

  Cygnus reached behind her and grabbed the ringing instrument. ‘Fullerton residence,’ she announced.

  ‘Cygnus? Excellent! Just who I wanted to speak to.’ Doctor Ultimate sounded rather pleased. Cygnus wondered whether he had just discovered the key to infinite energy or something.

  ‘Hello, Hugh. What’s up?’ Cygnus asked.

  ‘We just received word, rather late, that the UID have halted their investigation of you and Twilight. The ban was rescinded at midnight.’

  ‘And they waited eighteen hours to tell us?’

  ‘Twenty-one hours. Midnight eastern time. Don’t think we didn’t notice, but we believe being magnanimous about it seems best.’

  ‘Right… There’s nothing on the news…’

  ‘Given the delay in bothering to tell the subjects of the ban, I would suggest that there might be a further delay in informing the media. Perhaps on the late news tonight?’

  ‘We’ll keep an eye out. See you in the morning.’ Cygnus set the phone aside. ‘We’re officially unbanned, nationally.’

  ‘About time,’ June said.

  ‘And they waited almost a day after ending the ban to tell us?’ Andrea said, connecting the dots. ‘And no official announcement?’

  ‘That about covers it.’

  ‘Well, that sucks.’ Andrea frowned. ‘I guess it’s time to head back to New Millennium. I’ve been away a while and those idiots in Churchton are bound to be getting uppity.’

  ‘I need to hold on here for a little while longer,’ Cygnus said.

  ‘Don’t forget the calendar,’ June said. ‘We’re shooting in New Millennium the week after next.’

  ‘I was trying to forget…’ Andrea muttered.

  ‘I hadn’t forgotten,’ Cygnus said. ‘They’re taking the ship apart next week. They won’t need me after the computer is shut down and Hugh was saying that would be Thursday at the latest.’

  ‘I guess I should get back too…’ June said. ‘There’s still some work to do on prep.’

  ‘You should all stay until Saturday,’ Bianca said. ‘My butt should be back to normal by Friday night and we should celebrate. I’ll set up a dinner. Us, Elaine, and Damian.’

  ‘I suppose I can get work done from here if I can use your computers.’

  ‘You can.’

  ‘I’m going back tomorrow,’ Andrea said. ‘But I’ll come back here on Friday. I know where I’m going so I can just shadow-step it.’

  ‘You can really jump that far?’ Bianca asked.

  ‘I do America to Italy fairly regularly. Anyway, Twi wants to show Jacob her new costume and, if I’m honest, I expect the reaction to be interesting, so…’

  ‘Okay, it’s settled. I’ll get everything arranged.’

  22nd October.

  It was not until the following evening that the news broke about the dropping of the UID investigation, though various news agencies had tried to get a comment out of Cygnus and the UoU at various points in the afternoon. The news had leaked rather than there being an announcement and, at first, it seemed that the UID planned to deny it.

  ‘A spokesman for the Ultrahuman Investigation Division indicated late this afternoon that the investigation into activities performed by New Millennium City Ultras Cygnus and Twilight had been closed down.’ It was a minor item on the news schedule: the ban had been a legal detail for weeks anyway. ‘The UID were unavailable for formal comment. Both Cygnus and Twilight could not be contacted today. The Union of Ultrahumans issued a short statement indicating that the end of the investigation without formal charges being filed was to be expected under the circumstances.’

  ‘But that still leaves the reserved zone as a refuge for any Ultra the government wants kept off the books,’ June said. ‘They’ll get shirty about it really fast if you go in there again.’

  ‘Openly,’ Cygnus replied, nodding. ‘The mistake we made was in assuming we could trust the local authorities. No, we only go in there as a last resort and we don’t report it. We make operations inside the reservation which are acting outside it untenable. Twilight has surveillance covered so we can watch, follow, and apprehend outside the area.’

  ‘And that’ll work?’

  Cygnus gave a shrug. ‘Economic warfare. Make their business too expensive to continue. It’s what we’ve got.’

  New Millennium City, MD.

  Officer Tarbuck looked along the row of criminals he was being asked to take care of. They were all tied with plastic strips and sitting against a wall in Churchton, with Twilight standing over them like the Angel of Death.

  ‘You’ve been busy,’ Tarbuck said. There were eight of them, varying ages and ethnicities, but all of them looking cowed if not scared.

  ‘An hour’s work,’ Twilight replied. ‘I leave town for a couple of days and they get frisky.’

  ‘Ain’t that the truth.’ It had been a busy couple of days since the reports of Twilight and Cygnus being in San Francisco had come out on the news channels. Tarbuck looked around to where a couple of his colleagues were fending off cameras. ‘It’s, uh, not like you to be hanging around when the press guys turn up.’

  ‘No, but it’s a special occasion.’

  ‘It is?’

  ‘Uh-huh. You’ve got a van coming down for this lot, right?’

  Tarbuck nodded. ‘Yes. Be here in about five minutes.’

  ‘Great. You make sure the cameras can get some good footage of them being put in it and I’ll stand there looking s
tern while you do.’

  Now Tarbuck grinned. ‘And everyone knows you’re back in town and taking a dim view of street crime.’

  Twilight grinned back. ‘Right. And I’ve got this awesome new costume to show off. That’s worth some airtime, I think.’

  ~~~

  ‘So… What d’you think?’

  Jacob, sitting in his favourite chair and looking across at Twilight who was leaning on the doorframe, felt that he was poorly positioned to answer, given that the blood was rushing away from his brain. ‘I… I’m required by law to say “you go out dressed like that?”’

  Twilight grinned. ‘And after you’ve said that?’

  ‘I’d be kind of stupid to say you look terrible, and I’m not sure I like it so much as think it’s hot.’

  ‘I’ll accept that answer. Miss me?’ She began to slink purposefully across the carpet.

  ‘When you get here, you’ll be able to work that one out for yourself.’

  ‘Oh good.’ Reaching over her shoulder, Twilight unstuck her sword and tossed it onto the sofa without breaking stride. ‘How are things going at work?’

  ‘Not what you’d call great. They’ve got both of us riding desks. There was some sort of freaky murder a couple of days ago in Deale, probably an Ultra, but we’re sat on our butts.’

  Twilight sank her own butt onto Jacob’s lap, hooked her legs over the arm of the chair, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Their lips met and he was a little surprised at the hunger in her kiss. And a little more surprised at how eagerly he reciprocated.

  ‘How about now?’ Twilight asked, her voice husky.

  ‘Uh… what was I saying?’

  Twilight smirked and shuffled her behind a little. ‘My, you really did miss me.’

  ‘Yeah…’ Jacob looped one arm around Twilight’s waist and the other under her legs, and got to his feet.

  ‘My big, strong man,’ Twilight giggled.

  ‘Yeah… How do I get you out of that suit?’ He started for the door.

  ‘It peels.’

  ‘A girlfriend I can peel… I’m loving this more every minute.’

  San Francisco, CA, 24th October.

  ‘Very well,’ Doctor Ultimate said, ‘I believe we have everything ready for Monday. We may as well call it a day.’

  Cygnus smiled. ‘Cool, I can probably get in some hot tub time before I need to get ready for tonight.’

  ‘You’re going out with Bianca and her boyfriend, yes?’

  ‘Uh-huh. And Elaine, June, and Andrea. Damian’s off-shift tonight, so it all works out.’

  ‘Enjoy yourself… Um…’

  Cygnus frowned at Ultimate’s frown. ‘Something wrong, Hugh?’

  ‘Something… Damian… Ah, yes. The scans I ran after we found Blutadler’s ex-laboratory.’

  ‘What about them?’

  ‘I was getting some anomalous readings on the cosmic energy scanner. I managed to screen them out, but I decided to analyse them anyway, just in case. When I did, I discovered that Detective Inman was causing them.’

  ‘Damian’s an Ultra? He… “Hate” is too strong, but he doesn’t like Ultras much.’

  ‘The signal is weak, primarily a disturbance caused by absorption. It suggests primarily internal powers, possibly sensory or metabolic. It’s possible he isn’t even aware of having them. However, his attitude may be the result of not accepting that he is an Ultrahuman. He likely rationalises his abilities as something normal and he doesn’t like Ultras because they remind him that he is one.’

  ‘Not an uncommon condition,’ Alice commented. ‘Usually, Ultras like that either accept their nature and blossom or suppress it further until their powers more or less vanish.’

  ‘Oh,’ Cygnus said. ‘Do you think it’s worth mentioning to him?’

  ‘No,’ Ultimate replied. ‘He either already knows or it makes little difference that he does. I just thought you should be aware of it.’

  ‘Right…’ And Cygnus was fairly sure someone else would want to know too.

  ~~~

  ‘Well… it does explain a few things,’ Bianca said.

  ‘Hugh and Alice seemed to think it could be a reason for his dislike of Ultras,’ Cygnus said.

  ‘Yeah, but it also explains his… awareness. I think he’s got enhanced senses. He sees too well in dim light and I think his sense of smell is better than normal. And, uh, he’s generally quite a… sensory sort of man. Tactile.’

  ‘Right… You might want to be careful about exposing him to Mink.’

  ‘Yeah… Though I don’t think it would be a major issue if he figures it out. And he seems kind of eager to rationalise away the similarities anyway. If he can’t accept his own nature, maybe he’s trying to avoid accepting that I’m Mink.’

  ‘Men,’ June commented.

  ‘Women can be delusional too, you know?’

  ‘No, we just look at the world differently. When’s Andrea getting here?’

  ‘About fifteen seconds ago,’ Andrea said, walking in from the back hall. ‘So your boyfriend’s an Ultra, Bianca?’

  ‘Apparently.’ Bianca gave a shrug. ‘Well, I like them exotic.’

  ~~~

  ‘Here’s to the clearing of records,’ Elaine said, raising her wine glass.

  ‘I’ll drink to that,’ June responded, and then there was drinking.

  ‘They cleared you pretty quickly,’ Bianca said, her eyes on Damian who was sitting across from her at the table for six.

  ‘Apparently, internal affairs got a note from Mink pointing out that the man who had helped bust a major human trafficking ring had also been framed by the task force they were busy investigating,’ Damian replied. ‘They cleared four other guys who were forced out one way or another at the same time. IA is working pretty fast on this one. The city wants all of this done with so they can start putting the police force back together.’

  ‘And the Nine Kings?’ Elaine asked.

  ‘Are being rounded up and shut down, mostly by the Vice division and the DEA. Frankly, if I hadn’t dropped a few choice names, yours, they’d have cut my break short and I wouldn’t be here. We’re run off our feet.’

  ‘Here’s to being fresh in the morning then,’ Bianca said, grinning.

  ‘If we keep making toasts, I won’t be.’

  ‘Good thing you work nights.’

  ‘Does this mean we’re more or less back to normal?’ June asked when the drinking was done again. ‘I mean, Cygnus and Twilight are back to being national heroes, Mink has been cleared…’

  ‘Fuego is back on patrol,’ Elaine said, ‘but the Stars are down Snapshot. Lament says she thinks she’s got someone who might be a useful replacement. I got the impression she meant more useful, but she hasn’t mentioned a name yet.’

  ‘The Stars were pretty heavy on the crowd control elements with Snapshot,’ Bianca said. ‘Maybe she’s found someone a little more assertive.’

  ‘Maybe. Anyway, things aren’t quite back to normal, but I guess we got something out of it. The Nine Kings are gone.’

  ‘San Francisco is going to end up like New Millennium,’ Andrea said. ‘You might want to watch out for gang wars starting up soon.’

  ‘I think we’ll escape that,’ Damian said. ‘Jade Flame did a pretty good job of suppressing the other operations in the city. Whatever replaces him and his people, it’ll probably be something new.’

  ‘Well,’ Cygnus said, ‘at least novelty isn’t boring.’

  Bianca giggled. ‘Here’s to novelty and never being boring.’

  ‘You’re just trying to get me drunk,’ Damian said, lifting his glass.

  ‘Got a problem with that?’

  ‘Not really. To novelty!’

  Epilogue

  New Millennium City, 25th October, 2014.

  Jacob raised his eyes toward the woman who was currently turning his life into exquisite torture. Her eyes were shut, her fingers curled in her short hair, and her body was in constant, writhing motion.

&nbs
p; She was, he thought, amazing. Physically incredible, certainly. She was beautiful, exotic, strong, amazingly flexible… But beyond that she was smart, determined, and then there was the fact that she was two different women in the same body. She could be somehow naïve and kinky, or worldly and romantic All it took was a mask to make the switch.

  ‘Are you really going to… mmm… dissect my personality d-disorders while I’m… fucking you?’

  Jacob’s mind cycled over that one for a brief second. She had never shown any signs of being a mind reader before… And there was the fact that she was in San Francisco right now… He was dreaming.

  ‘Of course you are… God, you are so big! Of course you’re dreaming. So why waste a good d-dream on… s-psychoanalysis?’

  Dream-Andrea had a damn good point. Jacob let his eyes slide closed as he reached out his hands, clamping them over her hips to drive her onward and upward and–

  Her gasp caught him by surprise and his eyes snapped open. There was a look of shock on her face, fixed there, frozen there. Her eyes were open, and brown instead of black, but there was a film of white forming over them, over her skin, her hair. The ice thickened and seemed to grow into her, and Jacob watched in horror as Andrea turned from a living, breathing woman into an ice sculpture and…

  Jacob jerked upright in his bed, reaching out for the woman who was not there. Andrea, who he had just watched shattering into a million pieces before his eyes. ‘No!’ But she was not there, and she had not been. He had been dreaming. That was all. Just a dream turned to nightmare. Just a dream…

  He reached out for the glass of water on the table beside his bed… And Jacob knew even before he had tried to drink from it that it was frozen solid.

  ###

  About the Author

  I was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail. So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.