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Stories from the Verse
Con Version
Chapter 125: Takano 123
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Cooper 40
“I think,” Tommy ventured, “that what we should be asking ourselves is what’s near here that a supervillain might want to steal.”
“That makes sense,” Tell said. “So, what’s the answer?”
“Don’t ask me. I’ve been in this world about a week; I’m lucky I know where the laundromat is.”
Cooper laughed, but said, “She’s got a point.”
“So,” Tell asked, “what sorts of things might be on the list?”
“I don’t know. The diamond exchange; a Federal Reserve Bank with a gold store; some sort of super advanced technology; a major stash of street drugs.”
“Technology,” Tell said. “Didn’t I hear something about some kind of superconductive crystals?”
Tommy looked at Cooper. She’d never heard of such a thing, and the shrug he gave her suggested he was just as clueless. This, though, was a different universe. There might be such a thing here.
“So,” Tommy asked, “how would we find them?”
After a moment, Uncle Brian said something. “In our time, research into superconductors always means extreme cold. I don’t know if that’s true of these crystals, but it’s at least a clue: wherever they’re stored, they must have some kind of refrigeration or air conditioning system. That means compressors and fans and radiators, a fair amount of noise and a lot of heat.”
“Well, it gives us something,” Tell said.
“It’s too bad our cell phones don’t work,” Tommy said. “We could split up and call each other if we found anything.”
“What’s a cell phone?” Tell asked. Brian explained.
“In the future communication companies will build these encrypted microwave communications networks so that people can carry pocket-sized hand-held radios that can connect through the network to each other. They also integrate into the regular telephone network so calls can be placed between the cellular phones and what we called the land lines.”
“So, why don’t they work?”
“You don’t have the cell towers to connect to the phones.”
“Could we build them?”
Cooper shrugged. “Maybe? But until we’ve made significant advances in integrated circuit technology, we’re not going to be able to make the phones, so it would be a lot of money spent just to enable Truth and Justice to talk with each other. Anyway, back to the problem at hand.”
“Right,” Tell said. “I suppose the best option is for us to keep splitting up and coming back together, a sort of search pattern. One of us goes a few blocks north, another a few blocks south, we all head west for a few blocks and come back together to say whether we found anything. Truth, why don’t you go up the middle, and I’ll go north, Justice south.”
They nodded. It didn’t seem a great plan, but not having a better one Tommy prepared to head up the street.
She realized that she would have the shortest distance. Both of her companions would have to travel a couple blocks away from her road and then return the same distance to get back to her. She thus decided to take her time. It was still fairly early, and there was significant traffic noise, which she thought might mask any unusual sound. The heat from the radiators--if they were smart, those would be on the roof, so it wouldn’t get back into the building. She walked slowly, focusing on listening.
There was a sound--a new sound, that is, she heard it begin, a low crunch followed by a steady hum. That could indeed be a compressor. Turning toward the sound, she saw a building marked Blaisdell Industrial.
She had no good way of knowing whether this was it, but it fit what they knew. She decided to stay where she was, watch the building, and hope that the others found her. It struck her that they had not agreed how many blocks to travel west, and she had no way to contact them but to watch for them; that meant splitting her attention between the road ahead and the building in front of her.
She saw the dark figure of Mister Justice emerge from a side street under a streetlight. She thought she could call for him, but hesitated, not sure what to call. Finally, she shouted, “Brian!” He looked in her direction.
At that moment, the front door of the building opened, and a man in the previously described blue outfit stepped out, his goggles making him look a bit like a bug. She shouted again, “It’s Blue Ray!”
The villain looked at her, and then looked up the street. Uncertain what to do, a bit nervous about facing the villain alone, Tommy also glanced up the street. Mister Justice was running toward them carrying a flaming sword, and moving inhumanly fast.
She uncoiled her kawanaga and started spinning it in front of her. Mostly she was hoping to protect herself from anything he might throw at her, or keep him from grabbing her, although in the back of her mind she realized that it wasn’t much of a defense against the beams he was said to be able to project. He looked at her, but then was distracted as some sort of firework exploded above them, lighting up the area quite brightly for several seconds.
Mister Justice arrived and raised his flaming sword to what Tommy thought must be a defensive position. She saw behind him, a few blocks back, William Tell Junior jogging toward them. He was too far away to do much good, although it must have been his quarrel that lit the night. The light was fading, but was still better than nothing.
Blue Ray suddenly pointed his right fist at Mister Justice, and a beam of blue light struck him and knocked him back several feet. Tommy realized that the combination of the power of the ray and the speed at which Brian had been running would have created a massive impact, and her instinct was to run to his aid--but at that moment, Blue Ray created a layer of light beneath his feet and started to rise into the air.
Oh, no, you don’t, she thought, and flung the hook of her weapon toward his waist. He rose quickly, but she managed to wrap the rope around one leg and catch the hook on it. She held on tight, and was jerked off her feet into the air.
Hand over hand she climbed the rope. Hopefully he was limited, having to maintain the flying board and so unable to do something else with the ray at the same time. She reached the platform, and found it solid enough to support her as well, so she got on her knees. He tried to push her off with his other leg and his other hand, but she managed to avoid his efforts. She grasped the bracelet. It was burning cold against her skin, but she pulled, and it slid off over his hand.
As it did, the platform vanished, and the two of them began falling toward the ground below. Blue Ray screamed, but Tommy maintained her focus, released the grip on the rope, and went into a hard impact absorption motion. She hit the ground and rolled, winding up on her back, sore but, she thought, unharmed.
Bare legs ran past her; it had to be Tell. Satisfied that she wasn’t severely injured, she sat up to see the crossbowman securing the wounded villain with some rope. It occurred to her that she had rope in her pack, which might be useful--but then, there was only so much she could carry.
Mister Justice came over to her. “Are you all right?” he asked.
She nodded. “I’m more worried about you,” she said. “You were moving so fast, and he hit you hard.”
“Yes, I should have anticipated that. The sword lets me expend energy enhancing my normal abilities, and I thought you would need help in a hurry. As it turned out, though, you managed it alone.”
“Oh, not quite. If he had hit me with that ray instead of you, he probably would have escaped. So it was a team effort. Oh, and William--thanks for the light.”
She wasn’t sure how much difference it really made, but it did distract Blue Ray, which gave her a chance.
“Not a problem. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more, but I was too far away, and couldn’t get a clean shot with Justice between me and Blue Ray. But it worked out. One of us needs to call the police; there’s a payphone on the corner.”
“I don’t think I have a quarter,” Justice said.
“A quarter? It’s a nickel for a local call,” Tell said, “and to reach the police you dial the operator and ask for the police, and it’s free.”
“I’ll do it,” Tommy said, and picked herself up, still sore, and walked over to the phone. She dialed zero, which said “Operator” under it, asked for the police, and then when they answered she said, “Officer, this is Truth. I’m in front of Blaisdell Industrial with William Tell Junior and Mister Justice, and we have caught Blue Ray trying to steal something from the company.”
“Thank you, Truth. We’ll have a patrol car there in a moment.”
She hung up and walked back to the others. Then looking around, she recovered her dropped kawanaga, coiled it, and replaced it on her belt. She then pulled a spray can from each pocket and sprayed her double-T slash on the street where she had landed. She then looked at the others.
“If you gentlemen don’t mind,” she said, “I’m going to leave you to deal with the police and go get a good soak in the tub to help relieve the pain of that fall.”
“You’re sure you’re alright?” Justice asked. She shrugged.
“If I’m not, I’ll probably know by tomorrow.” She turned, felt for the scriff sense pointing to her equipment, and headed back toward The Paris.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
