Seven Wonders (33 page)

  In the square below, the other members of the Seven Wonders were kept equally busy. The Dragon Star had still not returned from the damaged building with Bluebell, and Sand Cat had pounded off to their aid. Conroy and Hephaestus were busy among the crowd, assisting the police and ambulance services that had arrived to deal with the many injured and the few unfortunates who had been killed by Tony's actions. Linear raced among the crowd, collecting the injured and the dead.

  SMART stood near the great gouge in the road, optics within its white domed head trained on the fight between Aurora and Tony. The pair had stopped gaining altitude and were now mixing superpowered fists with energy blasts, circling the arena formed by the shopping precinct as they battled.

SMART considered for a moment, calculating probability factors and power requirements. The hypothesis was sound, and the logic of the decision flawless. SMART fired the rockets in its feet and slowly lifted itself into the fray on cushions of blue flame.

If Tony noticed, he didn't pay much attention as the giant white robot hovered nearby, bouncing in the air as the rockets fought to compensate for its immense tonnage and the force of gravity. Unleashing a volley of small, fast, white plasma bolts, Tony yelled in anger and charged towards Aurora. The superhero's aura flickered yellow at the edges and expanded outwards slightly as he swept forward, arms outstretched. Tony took Aurora square in the chest, but the aura flared again and with another dynamite hook, Tony somersaulted backwards. Towards SMART.

  SMART rotated twenty-two degrees east, and raised its left arm ninety degrees. The mighty fist at the end of it twisted and retracted into the arm, a spring-like metal coil sliding forward into its place. As Tony came into range, SMART jetted forward at a slow walking pace, stretching the arm with the coil ahead of it. The coil sparked blue. Tony regained his flight balance and turned upright just as the coil came in contact with his back.

  There was a wet sound, an organic
crunch
, and the air around SMART was shot through with blue ozone. Tony stiffened, back arched, and fell silently to the ground twenty feet below. He hit the ground with his neck at an odd angle, and for the second time that day did not move. SMART's feet jets fizzed blue and it sank down to the road. The crowd watching went quiet.

  Aurora reached the ground before SMART did, alighting next to Tony's body. His aura faded almost to nothing as he knelt by the body.

  "Aurora?" Bluebell called out as she returned to the plaza, carried in an energy bubble projected by the Dragon Star's powerstaff. She was bleeding from a cut above her eye, and held her side awkwardly. Aurora glanced up as they arrived but did not stand.

  Linear and Conroy broke off from the crowd and headed to the crater in the road. Something was different this time. Hephaestus' giant robot had descended very slowly and was the last to set down. Conroy squeezed himself into the silent circle. All were looking down at Tony. He tapped Linear's elbow discreetly.

  "What's going on? Is the jackass down or what?"

  Linear turned to Conroy, his face a smooth silver curve that shone in the sunlight. Paragon could hear the superhero breathing underneath it. Then Linear looked away.

  Aurora stood. For the first time, the smile was gone. Even the empty white eyes of the mask seemed now to impart an emotion, the same registered by the slack jaw. Paragon glanced at the circle of heroes. All stared blankly, in shock.

  "What? What's going on?"

  It was Linear who spoke, his voice weak.

  "He's dead. The Justiciar is dead, and we killed him."

CHAPTER FORTY

Sam's stomach flipped as the world pulled itself back together, black and white digital squares coalescing before her eyes until she could see the room she was in. She felt the floor rise up to meet the soles of her feet with a kick, and she bent double at the shock. She felt a hand on her back, and looked up to see Joe standing upright but loosening his tie and breathing deeply.

  She knew what the odd sensation was, having been through it once before when the entire SVPD building had been sent to Australia. Teleporting just sucked.

  They stood in a glass atrium, a smaller version of the entrance to the Citadel of Wonders in San Ventura. But through the twisted, elegantly fractured crystal shard windows, it wasn't the streets of a busy city on view. Sam stood up and felt immediately dizzy. She could hear Joe's breath catch in his throat as he worked his jaw to say something, but no words came out. He just looked out of the transparent walls of the atrium with wide-eyed surprise.

  They were on the moon.

  "Shit." Sam was impressed with the view, but her mind had difficulty registering the fact that they'd been transported a quarter of a million miles in a fraction of a second. The last thing she remembered was manning the phones at the SVPD, her and Joe having been sent there by Bluebell not only for their own safety, but to help liaise with the SVPD and prepare the authorities for the potentially city-wide carnage that was likely to ensue as the superheroes fought Tony Prosdocimi, who seemed to have become the new Cowl.

  Sam had heard of the Apollo Fortress – everyone had – but she couldn't remember the last time it had been activated. But she guessed that whatever the reasons, they could not be good. Something must have gone wrong, badly.

  Sam registered Joe's sharp intake of breath behind her but it wasn't until he tapped her on the shoulder that she could drag herself from the view of the gray plains and craters outside. A maskless Linear shimmered into view, his outline blurry as he vibrated in agitation. He waved a hand in apology and returned to something more solid and less headache-inducing.

  "Detectives." He nodded in greeting and adjusted the thick spectacles on his nose. "This way, please." Turning, he led the pair to the main elevator.

  The ride was short, nothing like the two-minute journey back in the Citadel of Wonders. The Apollo Fortress was only a few stories high, a truncated version of the Citadel. The remote outpost had been an important surveillance point when the thousands of superheroes of the world were at war with the hundreds of supervillains. In those days, the small lunar base would have been swarming with capes from every country and jurisdiction. Now the base was quiet and still, although immaculate and polished as though it had never really been mothballed at all. The thought that maybe it never had crossed Sam's mind as the elevator swished open, Linear stepping forward and leading them into a conference room.

  This room was far less flashy than the Earth equivalent. The low, dark ceiling gave the room an urgency, an importance. Here the windows were flat glass instead of the artistically angled crystal; outside, the moon's horizon loomed uncannily close.

  Aurora rose from his position at the head of the table. There were five people seated before him: three of the superteam, Sand Cat, the Dragon Star and now Linear, and…

  Sam sucked in a breath. She'd thought, maybe, somehow, it had been a mistake, or a temporary reassignment, or some devilishly complex and cunning plan to get him to reveal his secrets and plans before handing him to the proper authorities for his trial and sentencing. In the confusion of the Justiciar's attack she'd managed to forget, temporarily at least, pushing it out of her mind as she'd dived in to help with the emergency. But surely…

  "He's still here?" Sam stared at San Ventura's most eligible bachelor and most wanted criminal. Conroy smiled, his high cheeks squeezing his eyes into tight lines.

  "Detectives," he said, but he hardly moved in his chair. It looked like he'd taken quiet a beating.

  Joe and Sam looked at each other. Seeing Sam was almost unable to speak, Joe addressed Aurora. "So you're serious about recruiting a murderer and terrorist for your little primary-color glee club?"

  Aurora shook his head and indicated for the pair to sit. He remained standing as he addressed them.

  "There will be time for explanations later. Detectives, I thank you for coming, although I know you had no choice in the matter. I trust your captain will understand your sudden absence." His smile crept upwards a little. "Or at least he will when I tell him."

  Sam closed her eyes, and focused on keeping calm. The Seven Wonders would explain everything. Aurora had said so.

  For the meantime, her disgust – and fear – of being in the same room as the Cowl melted into anger and frustration. There was no reason for her and Joe to be here. A secret meeting of the superheroes and her and Joe and an ex-supervillain, sitting at the table like he was an old friend. She and Joe had a job to do, with the destruction at the Moore–Reppion Plaza requiring all members of the SVPD to pitch in. Meanwhile the instigators of − the cause, the goddamned
reason
for – the whole mess zoom off to the
fucking moon
for a meeting, abducting her and her partner by teleport without the consent or knowledge of their captain. Teleport! It was abduction, pure and simple.

  But she held her tongue, deciding to bide her time and was glad that Bluebell wasn't in the room. She presumed that the psychic hero would be interrogating Blackbird, no doubt also brought to the moon. But instead, she asked: "What does this have to do with us? We have work to do."

  Aurora sat, but he seemed hesitant. Around the table, none of the heroes would meet each other's gaze. Instead they looked variously at the table, at the ceiling, out the window. Everywhere except at Aurora. The only one not distracted appeared to be Conroy. He sat in the middle of the superheroes, hands clasped on the table in front of him. He was waiting for someone to speak, for Aurora to explain the situation, for the other heroes to put their word in. Sam tried not to look at him, but it was impossible, the urge too difficult to resist. Maybe, if she had a chance…

  "Where's SMART and Hephaestus? What happened to the Cowl II?" Joe said at last. At his words a ripple of movement shot around the table as the heroes first looked at Joe, then at Aurora.

  Aurora's heavy gloves pattered softly on the conference table. He seemed to be staring into the middle distance, but with eyes hidden behind the opaque white windows of his mask it was impossible to tell. That was the point, Sam remembered.

  Aurora seemed to sigh, and Sam noticed Conroy settle slightly in his own chair. Still nobody spoke. Joe and Sam exchanged a glance, and then both started a little as Conroy coughed to break the deathly silence and began talking quickly, almost afraid that he would be interrupted before finishing his piece.

  "Well now, Bluebell is in the infirmary. She got beat up nicely, but she'll be fine."

  Of course, Bluebell didn't need to interrogate Blackbird, if indeed Blackbird was in custody. With Conroy at the table, Bluebell could read the secrets straight from his mind. Blackbird was an accessory – as guilty as Conroy, but useless for information.

  Conroy coughed again.

  "Hephaestus is busy rebooting his big honking robot downstairs. Seems the Supra-Maximal Attack-Response Titan has a little glitch in his AI that makes him look for… permanent, shall we say… solutions to battles."

  Sam cocked her head. "Permanent?" A light eyebrow raised itself at the question. Conroy shuffled a little and coughed again and Aurora took up the explanation.

  "SMART killed the Justiciar, aka Tony Prosdocimi, thereby breaking the primary clause of the International Superheroic Justice Pact." He looked at Sam but Sam found herself staring at Conroy again. Under her gaze his internationally famous playboy grin became fixed and cold. Sam felt ill.

  Joe leaned back in his tall conference chair. The leather creak that accompanied the movement ricocheted around the quiet room, causing him to wince, then he leaned forward and he folded his arms.

  "Well," he said. "That shits that up, doesn't it? The Seven Wonders kill someone and recruit their sworn enemy as a new member of the superteam. You guys need to work on your PR."

  Sam pursed her lips, glanced around the downcast heroes. "So the Seven Wonders broke the golden rule, and are hiding on the moon?" She almost laughed at the childishness of it. Aurora had his head inclined, as if he was studying the table, but she could
feel
his eyes watching her. She turned back to Conroy, who looked ridiculous in his black and white costume. It must have been a cast-off from a forgotten superhero, mothballed in the Citadel of Wonders. The Churchwarden, perhaps.

  "What's this got to do with us?" Sam waved in Joe's direction before continuing. "And what the hell are you doing here, Mr Conroy? Forgive me, but I'm finding it a little difficult to believe you've renounced your ways and have become the model superhero."

  Seated on her left, Linear let out a low whistle and looked away from Sam, who just caught the look on his face before he turned. Awkwardness, embarrassment even. Aurora's gauntlet creaked slightly as he flexed a fist.

  Conroy looked at Sam for a moment, then laughed. The humor seemed genuine, and it annoyed Sam. She felt like she'd become the butt of a private joke, but none of the other heroes were laughing. As Conroy's laugh receded, he sighed and the real smile reappeared.

  "I've had much to think about recently. I lost my way, but I found an old friend. Friends, actually. Then I had… well, an epiphany. Plain as that. I could talk about the scales falling and seeing the… well, never mind. I came to the Seven Wonders, and they gave me a new name: Paragon. This represents what I've become. You may not believe a man can change, but trust me, he can. If I were not a reformed character, I would hardly be seated at this table."

  Sam's world went fuzzy at the edges. The only thing she could remember later was asking someone for a glass of water before she pulled out her gun. Her hand wobbled and her aim was clumsy, but in a red haze she eventually managed to level the weapon across the table at Conroy, who had stopped smiling.

  Time slowed. Next to her, Joe leapt from his chair and drew his own weapon through a sea of treacle. Sam watched him lazily out of the corner of her eye then refocused and squinted down the barrel of her gun, which drooped down and to the right, no matter how hard she concentrated on keeping it still. Someone yelled; Sam realized it was her, then she squeezed the trigger. The gun bucked in her hand once, twice, three times. Her scream continued long after she emptied the magazine.