Hostile Territory

by Tom Andry

  I nodded, gasping, "What do you want?"

  He leaned forward, "What happened that night? At my club? What happened to my sister?"

  My eyes narrowed as I studied the tippy. He seemed genuinely confused. Could it be true? Could he really not remember? I was half convinced that he could remember Nineteen like I did.

  Tay's eyes bounced around like he couldn't focus on anything for too long, "I remember waking up in prison. That's it. I found out about the club later. But even that kept fading for a long time. What happened?"

  "I'll tell you if you tell me what I want to know. What I've been coming to the jail to ask you for months."

  Tay nodded.

  "Well, in short, The Raven happened. Your sister tried to stop him, but she couldn't. He snapped her neck."

  It was a brutally short synopsis, but I was fairly sure he didn't want the gory details.

  Tay sat back, nodding. "But she almost got him, right? She almost did?"

  I decided not to push things and nodded.

  "Good girl," Tay muttered.

  "Now me," I pressed his current mood hoping he'd be willing to talk. "Where did you get the clones?"

  Tay bolted upright in his seat, "You know about them?"

  "Just answer the question."

  "Uh...Siddeon."

  The name set me back in my chair. Siddeon. He had been at the Tournament when The Raven had attacked and killed many of the top supers in the world. Without their leader, Siddeon's henchmen had gone rogue and were responsible for the explosion at the TOP office that had burned Liz. I'd helped take them down by luring them to the final battle with The Raven, exposing their plans.

  Siddeon was one of the largest names in super villainy. He was the typical schemer type - plans within plans. He was ruthless, brutal, and as likely to kill his own as he was his opponents. Siddeon was the quintessential villain and the world was better off without him.

  "Siddeon? Damn."

  "Why?"

  I shook my head, "Another case. I'm looking for the source of clones."

  "Oh, you can still get clones."

  "You can? Where?" I tried to keep the need out of my voice.

  "My contact was Gideon Sans, but he was really just a front man for Siddeon's organization. I don't go into business with someone without knowing who I'm in bed with. I'm not stupid."

  Gideon Sans. Siddeon. I should have seen the connection. Mind should have seen it. Someone should have. Damn it! I was slipping!

  Alan had been wrong. EnviroKop was evil. The complexity of the computer security should have tipped us off. It all made sense now. We'd been tracking this Gideon as if he were a front man for a company. Or maybe a member of some sort of consortium. But he was just a henchman for another villain with plans for world domination. I should have seen it! The name was the key. Gideon Sans. I'd bet if we interviewed one hundred people who had met him, we'd get one hundred different descriptions. No wonder we couldn't lock him down! He wasn't real!

  Tay was watching the play of emotions and thoughts across my face, "This important to you, huh? Well, to show there are no hard feelings about you getting me landed in jail for...whatever it was I was doing at that hospital, I'll tell you a secret." He leaned in and whispered, "I don't think Siddeon is dead."

  "What?" I hissed. "That's impossible. He was at the Tournament. No one survived."

  Tay smiled, "Siddeon isn't just anybody. He's Siddeon. If anyone would have had a way out, don't you think it would have been him?"

  Could it be? I didn't know.

  "But," Tay countered, "you didn't come here to ask me about Siddeon for some client. You came here to find out something else. Something about the bar." Tay sat back, his arms crossed, "Why are you here, Moorster?"

  I had nothing to lose. I'd already gained the real information I wanted, so I put my cards on the table, "Some of the US Ambassadors have disappeared. The supers think they've just left. But others don't agree. What do you know?"

  He shrugged, "Nothing."

  I lowered my head, studying his reaction, "Nothing? Come on."

  He huffed, "That Sanders guy - he was snooping around. But he was always asking about what was going on with Austria."

  "Austria or Australia?"

  "There's a difference?"

  I kept my eyes from rolling, "And what did you tell him?"

  "Nothing. Nothing was going on with Austria."

  I shook my head, "Let's back up. What do you do here? I understand you have a way of transporting stuff on and off the City. How?"

  Tay's teeth showed in something that wasn't quite a smile, "I thought you'd never ask."

  Tay motioned, and his super put his hand on the wall behind us. After a moment, the color of it in the negative field changed and started to fade. He led Tay and me through a wall and into some sort of back room, except that it was completely sealed and had no doors or windows. This super must be the only way in. During the journey, I had switched on my Inertial Dampener. The super that Tay referred to as Sal appeared to have the ability to affect the ice and, later, rock so that we could pass through it. We floated down a few stories, to the side at least a dozen meters, and then down again. This happened repeatedly. Theoretically, I could probably have estimated how far we'd gone by counting the walls and floors as they passed through the negative field and us, but it didn't occur to me to start counting until it was too late. I was far too busy thinking about Siddeon's organization.

  It was supposedly destroyed...dismantled...after The Raven. But what if it was still out there? What if he were still out there? The source of clones had a name if not a face. I had a target. Now all I needed was the location and the proper gun. With Mind, my super resources, Alan, and my years of experience, I'd prevail. And if something went wrong, if I got in over my head, I could always call Gale. Love me or hate me, she wouldn't hesitate to bring the Bulwark down on anything that had Siddeon's stamp on it.

  Finally, we stopped at the first floor that wasn't constructed out of ice or stone. We stood on a floor of what looked to be polished steel. Tay nodded and the super released the field and we were plunged into darkness. After a moment, I heard a click and a weak light from a single, naked blub hanging from a swinging cable illuminated the room.

  The room was small, maybe ten feet square and seven feet tall. The wire holding the bulb was spliced crudely into a passing bundle uncovered in the ceiling. The walls were mostly hewn rock, roughly gouged by what could have been pickaxes or hands. There was a small panel in a corner with a few dials and buttons on it. The floor was smooth, though there were a few scuff marks leading away from the wall toward the center of the room. The floor was one continuous piece of metal without rivets, seams, or imperfections except for a round outline in the center.

  "Okay." I looked at Tay who was studying me, "Where are we?"

  "Bottom of the City, man. Bottom of the City. When you tippys look up?" He tapped his foot on the ground, "This is what you see."

  "Huh. So, what? You open this round thing somehow and drop stuff through?"

  Tay smiled, "Yeah, something like that. And then my contacts on the other side pick it up. Easy peasy."

  Tay motioned me back and the super next to him turned to the control panel. After a few moments, the round outline in the center was replaced with a vast blackness with pinpoints of light. It was like one of those pictures from the moon or the ones that flying supers often sold to magazines. We were above a city somewhere.

  I nodded. "So, there is no way you could send a tippy through and have them live."

  Tay's voice came from beside me, "Does that look like a survivable fall, dawg?"

  "Not without a parachute."

  "Natch."

  Far away, as if at the end of one of those phones kids would make out of a piece of string and two soup cans, came a voice, "Bob! Can you hear me?" It was Mind. She sounded...stressed. "Bob, cough if you can hear me!"

  I did so. I stared over the edge, looking down at the lights th
rough the slight cloud cover. Mind. She was down there. Did she know I'd plugged in the Multikey? Was she hacking the system? How could I communicate with her without revealing anything to Tay and his silent super?

  "Bob," her words were almost too fast to follow, "I'm under attack. There have been people trying to break in for the last few hours. But that's not all, Bob. You've got to get out of there! Your life is in grave danger!"

  "Did it occur to you that I was being a little too talkative, Bob?" Tay's voice came from behind me. I turned to face him, paying more attention to the voice in my ear, "A bit too forthcoming?"

  "Uh, yeah. I guess."

  "Do you know when you can truly trust someone?"

  I scowled, "Right after the divorce?"

  "Moorster, you always were too mouthy for your own good. I'm not sure how you did it, but you turned," he glanced over at his pet super, "one of them from me."

  Nineteen. He didn't even know her number. Boy, she must've messed his memory up good. He was unstable to begin with; God knows what he's like now.

  "It fucked with my head and got my club destroyed, me in jail, and my sister dead. I wish I was like Siddeon and could come up with some sort of elaborate plot, but a long fall onto a hard surface will have to do."

  With that, he reached out and pushed me backwards. It was slow enough that the Inertial Dampener didn't catch it. I knew it was coming and I pushed my foot back to stop me from toppling. But the reversal super somehow countermanded that thought and my foot slid forward, sending me more off balance. I flailed and tried to grab onto Tay's suit, but instead of lapels, I felt smooth fabric.

  It was spandex. He was wearing a spandex costume that looked like a pinstriped suit. My hands grasped, fingertips slipping off the smooth fabric. I lurched forward, desperately seeking anything to hold on to. I could feel my mouth drop open, my body spasming with tension. I was falling! I would die! This was the moment. I had survived The Raven, countless supers, and tons of other situations that should have killed me, but this is how it would end.

  NO!

  I gritted my teeth, determined to find some way to stop my fall. I flung my arms to the sides to catch myself on the edge of the opening. I was falling out of the bottom of the Super City and the last person I would see was Tay.

  This was not how I wanted to die.

  * * *

  Chapter 14

  "Just joking, Moorster," Tay laughed as I floated above the opening. "You should've seen your face, though, dawg. Priceless."

  My heart was beating so fast and hard that it had taken me a moment to realize that the ceiling wasn't getting farther away and my hands hadn't come in contact with the edge of the opening. The reversal super, Sal, Tay had called him, appeared to have control over gravity as well. It was a pretty impressive power. Something I'd be inclined to appreciate more if I weren't dangling over a hole miles above the earth. The thought that I might have survived the fall because of the Dampener crossed my mind. More likely, though, it would have absorbed my overall momentum leaving my insides to liquefy at impact.

  "Bob, can you hear me? What's going on?"

  But, of course, that hole was the only thing keeping me in contact with Mind. Tay was doing a little victory dance, laughing rowdily.

  The stress and adrenalin transformed instantly to rage. "Screw you, Tay. I've already seen the Australian Ambassador half dissolved by microbots and the two previous US Ambassadors are sure to be dead as well. Probably by the same hand." I hoped Mind would be able to do something with this information. "I'm sure the same person is after me, so you are probably doing them a favor."

  "Processing, Bob. It's good you are on alert. Whoever is trying to break in here is certainly looking for you."

  "I was probably heading down to the planet in the morning anyhow."

  "Yeah, I'm not sure that's such a good idea. These guys look like they are just getting started. But don't worry, they haven't got anything near strong enough to break in."

  Tay stopped his dance and looked at me, his eyes tight, "Watch your mouth, Moorster. What do you take me for? An idiot?"

  "Bob, did you put the Multikey in a bathroom? Are you insane? No wonder I haven't been able to make contact. It'll take..."

  Tay motioned to his super and the hatch in the floor closed. I fell to the floor with a thump, the wind knocked out of my lungs. I pushed myself up, gasping.

  "Man, Moorster. You sure let yourself go." He patted my belly. "No, I'm not going to kill you. Hell, I don't have to. But if I were, I certainly wouldn't escort you out of my bar, full of witnesses, and do it."

  I dusted myself off, my eyes closed. I forced my rage down. Slowed my breathing. I just had a close call. By Tay, no less. This wasn't like me. I needed to focus. Make sure I didn't let him get the upper hand again. I pushed thoughts of Nineteen and what he had done to her and the other clones away. If I let those thoughts in, I might try to strangle him, super protector or no.

  "I didn't think you were that stupid," I responded slowly, "but don't mistake me for an idiot either. All it takes is a flying super or one of any number of flying vehicles super geniuses always seem to have lying around for you to transport people off or import stuff. Like, oh say, cigars?"

  Tay cracked a smile, "You got me, Moorster. Yeah, we do import a fair bit of luxury items. You don't honestly think the drinks pay the bills? Not with Mr. Icehole sitting over the top of the place."

  I shrugged, "I don't much care what you do, Tay. But I have to know: did you arrange transport for either of the other US Ambassadors?"

  He shook his head and motioned to his super, "No way, Moorster. Why would I lie about that?"

  I nodded. Why, indeed. I couldn't think of a reason.

  The super projected another negafield around us as I continued to dust my pants. The negafield passed through the floor and, for a moment, I thought I could see rock. After a short pause, we started ascending through the layers once again.

  I tucked back in my shirt, trying to process everything that had just happened. Suddenly, something Tay said stuck out in my mind, "What do you mean, 'you don't have to kill me'?"

  Tay shrugged, "It's a dangerous place, the Super City. Accidents happen. And you? Well, you got a lot of people that wouldn't mind putting a foot out as you walk down a set of stairs, if you get my drift."

  It was a warning. At least it sounded that way. From Tay? What did it mean? My brain felt like mush after everything that had just happened. I needed time to think. To get my head straight. I wished I'd had more time. That I could have found a better spot for the Multikey. But it wasn't to be. Gale would likely want to evacuate me with the remaining tippys. I'd have to take the Multikey with me. Maybe I could find a better place for it before she forced me to go? Damn, I didn't have time.

  But maybe I didn't need it. Now that we had a name...Siddeon...it might be enough. Mind would want control of the Super City computers but that was her problem. I shook my head.

  Tay continued his ranting, but I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts to care. The Australian Ambassador and his super had been killed. Presumably by the same people that had made the US Ambassadors quit or disappear. I thought I'd seen Doc Arts, but that could have been just an illusion or a trick of the mind. I hadn't had a Doc Arts dream in months and something like this was bound to happen. A flash of a white lab coat was all it would take. If it had happened at the dentist's office, I'd have laughed it off.

  But there were the microbots. How did that fit in? There was only one person who had been there, who had access to the equipment. Ted said he didn't take it, but I didn't put it past Ted to lie to me. I'd found the unitards, typical henchmen costumes, in his closet once. That could only mean he was, at one time, considering a life of villainy. But why? Why would Ted kill Garvey?

  It didn't add up. I was missing something.

  Could this really be all one huge coincidence? Could it be that someone just happened to have a similar technology or a power that mimicked the microbots?
And I caught sight of a guy in a lab coat and my mind was primed. But why? Why the Australian Ambassador? And why now, the day I arrived?

  We appeared out of a wall and next to the table at which we'd been sitting when this whole thing started. My drink and Tay's hat were still there. At $15,000 a pop, I wasn't going to waste that drink. I reached down and downed it in one gulp. A $500 drop ran down the side of my face and I caught it with my finger, bringing it back to my lips. At the far end of the room, near the door, I caught sight of Ted. He was banging furiously on the tabletop and stealing glances in our direction. Was he still looking for the engines? Why was he studying us? And where were all the other patrons? The place hadn't been hopping before but now it was empty.

  I turned to the smaller man, who was putting his hat back on, "Thanks for the info and the drink, Tay."

  I started walking out, setting the empty glass on the bar.

  "Hey, Moorster!"

  I turned. Tay was standing in front of the bar with his super on his right. From his left, the boisterous group from the other darkened table started filing out and toward him. They were the only ones left in the bar. The largest's head nearly looked to top eight feet, his shadow reaching nearly to my feet from what I could tell. He was so thick with muscle that I couldn't tell where one appendage ended and his body began. Two of the others were in identical, though mirrored, gray and yellow costumes. The final super was floating off the ground on a cloud of smoke.

  "Remember what I said about not having to worry about killing you?" Tay's smile was wicked. "Patience isn't one of my virtues. Plus, I can't have you talking about my little operation here. And, as I see it, you are all out of witnesses." Tay smiled wickedly, his eyes quivering in their sockets, "Kill him."

  So it was a warning. Damn it! I needed to get back in the game here. Twice! He got the drop on me twice!

  At first, no one reacted. Adrenalin poured into my bloodstream, but I was afraid if I moved, they'd be on me before I could react.