Seven Wonders

by Christopher, Adam

  If any superhero team could be considered celebrities among celebrities, it was Lady Liberty and the Presidents of the United States of America. Sam shrank back in her chair a little, feeling hopelessly inadequate to be sitting in such a presence. She heard leather creak and chainmail rattle as all in the room paid her very close attention indeed.

  Behind Lady Liberty, Sam could just see her team of android presidents − WashingtonX, Jefferson 2.5, TR (aka Robot Roosevelt), and Absolute Lincoln. She'd seen Lady Liberty in person, just once, when she visited San Ventura and there was a governor's reception. And she'd seen the robot Presidents on TV, but being in the same room as them was − even under such intense circumstances, sitting on the moon amid hundreds of superheroes − quite a thrill. Each of the robots, constructed for ill by Lady Liberty when she was being mind-controlled by prospective alien invaders, was a perfect clone of the original leader, crafted out of an alien metal, and possessing superpowers of varying sorts. Each stood proudly in the correct period dress, their unearthly silver skins with riveted seams where one metal plate bonded to another the only indication they were not human beings.

  Aurora stood, and gestured to Lady Liberty with a gloved hand. "Please, Lady Liberty."

  Lady Liberty nodded, and stepped forward again. "We need to cast differences aside if we are to fight. We are fighting not just for our own cities and homes. We fight to defend the entire world."

  She paused and turned her verdigris features to Aurora. "Before we left Mount Rushmore, we detected the passage of the Thuban at the orbit of Saturn. Mr President?"

  It was unclear to which of her team she was referring, but it was Absolute Lincoln that jerked into life, clasping the lapels of his coat. His voice was coated in silver and mercury.

  "Madam, thank you. Fellow superheroes and patriots. We are met today on a great battlefield of war, and I know we are all in agreement that it is the responsibility of those such as ourselves, so blessed with special powers, to protect the nations of the world as one. The task is mighty, but we shall prevail."

  There was a murmur of agreement among the superheroes. Sam couldn't resist a smirk. Lincoln cleared his throat and continued.

  "I propose we defend the Earth on two fronts. Firstly, all those heroes with powers that will allow the operator to function in the vacuum of space will form a perimeter around the Earth, at a latitude and orbit to be decided. Secondly, all those heroes who cannot survive in space, or who do not have superpowers but instead special talents of unpowered nature, will travel in spearheads and enter the Thuban warship itself, once breached by the first group."

  Aurora nodded. "An admirable solution, Mr President. I shall lead the defense of the Earth. I propose Paragon leads the assault on the ship."

  Another murmur sped around the room. Lady Liberty said nothing, while the Presidents conferred behind her. Finally Kalamari Karl spoke the question all were thinking.

  "Who's Paragon?" The king of the fish folded his wide, finned arms, his tentacled mouth twitching in the inky water that filled his translucent, spherical helmet. "Ain't nobody heard of him." His accent was pure Louisiana Creole.

  Sam saw Jeannie smile. It was all a joke to that bitch. Conroy coughed politely, and looked toward Aurora. All of the Seven Wonders followed his gaze, and the room drew quiet again.

  "Paragon is the newest member of the Seven Wonders. I imagine most of you have recognized him already. May I introduce Mr Geoffrey Conroy, noted industrialist and benefactor of the city of San Ventura. Perhaps better known as the Cowl."

  Sam found herself at the infirmary. After the furor in the conference room, when Conroy's former identity had been revealed, Sam managed to excuse herself. The superheroes continued to argue; she could still hear them as she entered the elevator at the end of the corridor. Those not in the conference room milled around the corridors of the place, debating among themselves about the nature of what they might be facing.

  Sam was actually surprised to find herself at the infirmary. She just wanted to walk, to give herself time and space to think, but some instinct or curiosity had led her there. Despite being secured for the duration of the emergency, the door opened at her touch.

  There were two superheroes in the room − an immense man made out of shiny black stone, known as Monolith, and a small, slightly short but athletic-looking superhero in a red and white head-to-toe costume, the cape of which came to just above his waist. Sam hesitated, recognizing the hero. Lawmaker, an ex-cop from San Francisco sucked into the Earth during the quake of '89, who returned with superstrength, indestructibility, and no sense of humor. Before his happy accident, he'd been reassigned to San Ventura, and to this day stories were told about him, like he somehow belonged to that city rather than his own.

  Sam knew his reputation: Lawmaker was uptight and worked strictly by the book. He nodded Sam a greeting, and continued gently punching his fist into the palm of the other hand as he stood guard over the bed. Monolith stood silently on the opposite side. Force 10 must have been on a break, which was a shame, because the decuplets were a cute family and, from what Sam could gather, far more sociable company than the two heroes currently on duty.

  Tony Prosdocimi was asleep. The twin prongs of an oxygen hose trailed from his nose, and he was still on a drip. Sam had no memory of what she'd done to him when she'd had powers, but whatever it was, it had been enough to drag his formerly deceased human form back from whatever Thuban nightmare he'd been trapped in.

  "Detective Millar?"

  Sam didn't turn from the bedside, recognizing the voice but not wanting to look.

  Joe.

  She heard the powerstaff clack against the floor as he approached. He was too close, and she flinched, then cursed the involuntary movement and turned around, holding her breath. She had to deal with it sooner or later.

  Joe looked just like Joe. Same suit, same shirt, still torn, same shoes. Just her old friend and partner from SuperCrime.

  But his face was different. The muscles beneath the skin seemed to hang differently on the cheekbones. His mouth was at an expressionless horizontal. Sam released her held breath as she looked into his eyes − far from the glassy, dead look she had expected (the Dragon Star was some kind of parasitic zombie, right?), they glittered with stars, the once-brown iris now a gold-speckled emerald, gently spinning like clouds seen from space. They were deep, and beautiful, and like no human eyes could ever be. She found herself moving closer.

  "The Thuban are approaching Earth orbit. Aurora wishes to speak to you."

  Sam nodded. She wondered if Joe would get a funeral. She wondered if she would have time to mourn. She wondered if she would be able to, with his body apparently walking around in good health.

  She wondered if whatever spark of Joe was left inside would ever come to the surface.

  The Dragon Star seemed to hesitate for a second, then he looked down. Another recognizable motion, but this time not one from Joe. The female version of the superhero had had a habit of avoiding eye contact.

  "I am sorry for your loss. But the survival of many depended upon my claiming this body. Do not fear. I shall do your friend a great honor."

  Sam nodded again. She understood, or perhaps she understood enough to cope with the situation for now, until the emergency was over and the Earth was safe. The Dragon Star was no body snatcher. He/she/it was just trying to help the Earth, his/her/its adopted home.

  The Dragon Star said nothing more, but when he raised his head again there was something in his eyes, something that seemed to indicate an understanding had been reached.

  The two left the infirmary.

  Monolith and Lawmaker watched Sam and the Dragon Star walk away, then Monolith turned back to the bed and resumed his impassive, unmoving position. Lawmaker looked him up and down, pounded his fist into his open palm again, and stood tensely at the bedside, ready for anything, anything at all.

  A minute later Tony's breathing hastened, he turned his head, and opened his eyes. The
sclera was entirely black, with no iris or pupil discernible.

  Tony screamed.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

  At this distance, the Earth was a hemisphere almost too big to take in, blue and green and white and shining with the blindingly bright light reflected from the sun. Bluebell had forgotten how, well, amazing the view was. Ever since the moonbase had been mothballed the exhilaration of working in space had been pushed to the back of her mind. Now, floating in the infinite ether, it all came flooding back. The first trip to intercept the meteor storm had been too fast, her mind too focused on the task at hand to appreciate the beauty of nature. Now the danger was even more acute, but Bluebell lingered in the calm before the storm, maintaining her position in the assembled force, facing away from deep space to view her home.

  Space was not unoccupied between her and the Earth. Although the brightness of the planet obscured most of the superheroes waiting at a lower altitude, some of the more flamboyant could be seen as colored specks remaining perfectly still as the planet rotated under them. A blue star that was Polaar, a mix of red and orange dots flaring in the upper atmosphere as the Merchants of Freedom held a grid formation. Slightly closer, two flickering, interlocking squares of pink energy that were the weapons net stretched out by the members of Shibuya ichimaru-kyū. Just a few of many.

  Aurora buzzed in her ear, addressing the entire assemblage. She turned, pushing herself around with her arms like a swimmer even though the motion was largely meaningless, her movement controlled by her psychic power converted to electrical energy. All around her, she saw the rest of the armada clearly against the black of space. Superheroes ranged from just a few yards away to a few miles. A multicolored scatter of figures, forms and dots. The raiding teams stood by on either side of Bluebell, half a dozen magical platforms and lifesupporting energy bubbles of various shapes and sizes carrying the heroes incapable of spaceflight.

  A historic gathering.

  Ahead, at a distance of something like one hundred thousand miles, the moon was a nothing, a void of black that blocked the star field beyond. Aurora was ahead of her; he floated backward and pointed for the benefit of those heroes close enough to follow the direction.

  At the moon's empty horizon, a star appeared. At first nothing more than another white dot in space, perhaps another superhero moving into position. Then the edge of the moon flared, like the diamond ring effect during a solar eclipse. The Thuban moved from the far side of the moon into range of the Earth, and of the superhero army.

  Bluebell couldn't make out much detail of the Thuban ship – if it could be called that at all. It appeared to be a series of cuboidal sections, moving, undulating like a mass of growing and shrinking bubbles which changed behind the curtain of light to become hundreds of polyhedral angles. It reminded her of the power core, now placed in a stasis field in the Apollo Fortress. But whatever the shape and design was, it was growing large as it approached. Very large. Her comm buzzed again as Aurora called the superhero army to bear. Everyone seemed to speak at once, individual heroes confirming their readiness while superteams called their members in. Bluebell made out just a few in the immediate rush of sound.

  "Seven Wonders, unite!"

  "Chicago Nightguard, TEN-HUT!"

  "Power ready and waiting!"

  "Let the Circle of Magi be one!"

  "Logarth of the Dereni affirms his readiness."

  "United International standing by."

  "Lady Liberty and the Presidents standing by."

  "Connectormatic standing by."

  Bluebell tuned the rest out, focusing instead on building power through her suit. She could see her increasing blue glow reflected against the backs of the nearest heroes, before it was completely overwhelmed by Aurora's corona exploding outward in a red haze. She looked sideways at her husband. He was smiling as he raised a fist toward the enemy. His voice buzzed again as the last of the heroes signaled in.

  "Let's tell the Thuban it's rude to visit without calling first."

  Aurora yelled and shot forward, and the space around Bluebell exploded with an endless rainbow of silent firepower.

  The view from the moonbase was as spectacular as it was terrifying. Sam watched as sheets of color swept between the superhero armada and the gigantic, amorphous glow that was the Thuban. It was impossible to judge any progress. The superheroes kept shooting. The Thuban kept moving.

  She wanted to say something, to comment on the battle, but caught her tongue just before the words blurted out. Jeannie was standing next to her in the corridor outside the infirmary, far too close really, but Sam was prepared to suffer the company so long as she could pretend she wasn't there. Fact was, there were only five people on the base now anyway, Monolith and Lawmaker keeping watch over Tony, and her and Jeannie. All of the heroes had gone, Force 10 included, and all of the technical staff supplied by the United Nations Superheroic Council had been evacuated back to the Earth, as if that was somehow safer. The moon might take collateral damage, she supposed. Maybe it did make sense. Maybe she shouldn't be here at all. But she was just a regular person, after all, who…

  "We should go to the conference room," Jeannie said, breaking the silence and Sam's train of thought. Sam's brow furrowed in annoyance, and she shook her head slightly like she was brushing off a distracting insect.

  "The view is better from here."

  Jeannie clicked her tongue in impatience. Sam heard it and shook her head again.

  "The view is pretty but you can't see what's happening, detective. Up there we can listen to the comms and follow the battle."

  Sam jerked her head over her left shoulder, met Jeannie's eye, then walked off. Jeannie had been right, but she'd be damned to admit it.

  She came to a halt immediately, her shoes squeaking on the polished floor. Beside her, Jeannie swore.

  "Tony!"

  He stood in the doorway of the infirmary, wrapped in a blanket. He balanced uncertainly, one arm against the wall to support himself. He smiled weakly at them, risked moving his hand to push the hair from his eyes. He bunched the blanket up at his neck, trailing it like a superhero cape as he stepped forward.

  Jeannie rushed to help him. "Should you be up? I…" She didn't finish the sentence. Tony looked into her eyes with his own. The uniform blackness of them was horrifying. Tony saw her expression and smiled.

  "Yeah, I need to do something about that. Either somebody's got some magic juju they can wave at me, or I'll need to splash out on those Ray-Bans I've always wanted." He kept smiling until Jeannie's face broke into a matching grin. She hugged him.

  Lawmaker and Monolith appeared in the doorway. Lawmaker rolled his fists like a champion boxer ready for the next round.

  "Ma'am, keep away from the prisoner. He vanished from the bed and appeared in the doorway here. He must have residual power remaining." He paused, seeing that Tony and Jeannie were locked in an embrace that showed no sign of finishing. "Ah, I'd advise caution, ma'am."

  Sam waved the annoying hero away. "Leave it, Lawmaker. Blackbird?"

  Jeannie turned her head over Tony's shoulder and nodded at her. Sam in turn nodded to Lawmaker. "That will be all, thanks."

  Lawmaker straightened up and walked back towards the door. He didn't look happy and flexed his fingers, clenching and unclenching his fists. "I'll maintain watch in the corridor, ma'am." He paused, as if waiting for someone to tell him to stay instead, but when no such invitation came he turned and jogged down the corridor. The footfalls stopped as he put himself on guard at the far end. Monolith stayed close.

  "Allow me to escort you to the conference room," he said, then turned and walked away without waiting for a reply.

  • • • •

  Jeannie led Tony around the table and pushed him gently into Aurora's chair. She turned it to face the observation windows, and together they watched the fireworks in space for a moment. He exhaled sharply.

  "What's going on?"

  Sam pointed out the cluster of multicolo
red dots. "Superheroes." She then pointed at the yellowish glowing oblong that moved incrementally from left to right. "Bad guys."

  Tony frowned. Jeannie saw his expression and knelt on the floor next to him. "What's the matter?"

  Tony waved his hands at the window. "The superheroes are attacking the Thuban?"

  "Yep," said Sam. "Spaceworthy superheroes are defending the Earth and trying to breach the hull of the ship. Once an entry has been made, the terrestrial heroes will join the others aboard and try to take out the crew from the inside."

  Even before she had finished, Tony was shaking his head with increasing urgency. With blank black eyes it was difficult to tell where he was focusing, whether it was on Sam, or the window behind her, or just the empty middle distance.

  Jeannie looked at Sam, who just shrugged. She shuffled closer to Tony and put her arms around his shoulders. "What's wrong? Is there something the superheroes should know?"