Captain Superior could tell that something was bothering Alix the second she hovered out of the red and white helicopter’s cargo hold.  The feeling got no better when she moved over the deck of the aircraft carrier that served as the Longbow base just off Warburg’s south shore.  Even so, he couldn’t help but smile at her beauty and grace as she switched into full speed flight, her long black hair and black and gold cape billowing behind her.  Ducking the rotor, she covered the forty feet between the copter and him in just under six seconds. She so loves to fly. 

As loud as the copter and surrounding noise was, talking was difficult at best on the floating base.  The noise filter on the com-link made conversation much better.  With no one else on the group channel, he didn’t bother switching to private.  Free from having to set the proper example by addressing his second-in-command by her public name – Azure Noir – he smiled and kissed her lightly while no one else was looking, then activated the link.  “Hello, my love.”

Her smile seemed uncharacteristically forced, her response somewhat wooden.  “Hello, Tal.”

Tal Kanz was, by nature, quote stoic - a trait shared by most all of his people.  His sense of humor was dry as the Quinset Desert on his home planet.  The fact he had a sense of humor at all was one of the things that set him apart from others of his race.  Another was the driving desire to understand everything about the inhabitants of Earth, a planet two centuries or more behind his own both technologically and socially.  Despite that, it was a desire that had brought him here twenty-five years earlier. 

Yet, it had been only in the last two years, since meeting Princess Alexandra Sophie Christiane Micaela von Azurin, he had even begun to understand the nature of their emotions, particularly “love.”  It was moments like this one that reminded him just how little he had come to understand.

“Is everything well, Alix?” 

She drifted down a foot and a half and then dropped the last six inches to the deck, all the while looking pointedly away from him at the bay.  “I’m fine, love.  Bloody Warburg again, I see?”

One of the things he had first found so…delightful…about being in love was the pleasant way she always looked at him, as if he were some rare jewel.  That she seemed so suddenly allergic to rare jewels concerned him far more than Warburg’s ongoing difficulties.

Captain Superior took a long breath, using the time to try to decide how best to proceed.  For all that twenty-five years had improved his standing and skill as a hero to almost legendary status, they had done far less to improve his skills as a “human.”  The subtleties of emotion often escaped him, and deciding how best to handle them was one of his weaker points by far.  He found it ironic that he was perfectly capable of leading teams of heroes into deadly combat, but flailed like a winged bird when it came to situations like this.  He decided on the direct approach.

“You do not seem fine, Alix.”

She suddenly found one of the passing Longbow hovercraft very interesting.  “I am, Tal.  What does Agent Goddard have us doing today?”

She most definitely wasn’t fine, but he recognized her determination not to discuss it.  He also acknowledged that she was right in her concern for the mission, whatever her reasons. 

Agent Goddard had just asked them to rescue a recently kidnapped Longbow Communications Officer.  In the hands of Arachnos operatives, his captivity could be quite painful and deadly.  For the sake of the officer and his family – a wife, two children, and a dachshund named "Max," according to Goddard – Tal decided it best to let Alix’s resistance win out.

“Our point of entry is a manhole cover approximately 200 yards from here.”  Cap pointed in the direction of one of the shoreside buildings.”  The com-maps says it is directly in front of…”

Azure covered half the distance between the carrier and shore before he realized she’d taken off.  She was through the manhole cover, a far easier task for her small frame than his quite large one, before he’d flown 50 yards.  By the time he’d settled onto the black grate floor of the underground Arachnos base, she had “Betty” – her multi-purpose assault rifle – out and was reaching for the rifle bolt. 

She cycled a high-velocity rifle round into the chamber with practiced efficiency. “Ready.”

Tal glanced down at her.  Alix was staring intently down the corridor, deliberately avoiding his gaze, ready – almost eager, it seemed – to snipe anything that happened around the grated steel corner.  As chance would have it, the lucky winner – as it were – was a mechanical fire tarantula.  It clanged with surprising agility on eight long steel legs, its dual, four-foot-long, saber fangs glowing white hot.  Azure’s round took it between the mandibles, destroying its command center in one deadly shot.  It wobbled for a second or two before its legs folded beneath it.  The explosion that followed told every Arachnos operative in the corridor that security had been breached.

With no option left but join the fray, Captain Superior sprinted down the hall, intercepting two Bane Spider Commandos, a Fortunata, and a Mu Striker with a hand clap as they rounded the corner in search of the offending party.  Before any of them could target Azure Noir, he raked one of the Commandos with a blast of heat vision, melting a deep stripe across its hardened black and red armor.  Betty’s M-30 grenade landed among them before they could react, followed immediately by a long burst in fully automatic mode.  Anything that had been standing shook briefly under the barrage of deadly projectiles then collapsed. 

The entire fight had lasted less than thirty seconds, most of them with Cap simply standing there and watching.  Yet, before the brass casings from Azure’s last attack had stopped spinning, she flew past him in a blur, giving him time to do nothing but follow.

Despite Goddard’s belief that the mission would take upward of an hour, only eighteen minutes passed before the last of the Arachnos operatives had fallen beneath Azure’s deadly efficient, almost manic assault.   At mission door plus nineteen minutes, they were covering the Longbow communication officer as he made his way up the rusted steel ladder to the manhole cover.  At mission door plus twenty-one, Tal lightly grabbed Alix’s upper arm before she could follow, forcing her to stop, and forcing himself to ignore the soft warmth of her sweat-soaked skin.

“Alix…”

“Tal, please, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Talk about what, Alix?  Have I done…”

She interrupted him with a near-vehement shake of her head.  “No, Tal, it isn’t you.  It’s never you, love.” 

For a moment he saw the fire of her love for him burning in her eyes - he was that precious jewel - then she averted them again, her expression turning dark.  “It’s Valstrasse.  My grandmother, the Princess Regnant, has commanded me to come home.”

If a conversation had ever gone worse for him, he didn’t recall when.  Their talk had taken three times as long as the mission had, and it had exhausted him far more than the battle.  He focused on the thought of his last words, spoken to her back as she climbed the manhole ladder while she used hand to hold the rungs and the other to wipe the tears from her eyes.

Do not worry, my love, it will all turn out well.

He had always been the eternal optimist.  Even Statesman had made that observation during the early stages of the war.  Yet, for one of the few times in his life, Tal Kanz was not at all sure how that would happen – how it vould all tuen out well - which was why he waited as patiently as he could for her to leave before activating a secure link and calling Jack Null.

Several seconds later Jack replied.  “You rang, Cap?” 

Although the filter suppressed it, Tal could hear the din of fighting in the background.  He recognized the sounds of carnival music and the unique whispery whoosh of freed souls, and decided that the communiqué could wait.  “I have an assignment for you…” He paused.  “…should you choose to accept it.  But, it can wait until you have defeated the Carnival of Souls.”

“Sure, Cap.  Meet me at the base in fifteen minutes. No, you idiots, attack her...”  Jack disconnected the com, likely to try to redirect his holographic constructs' attack, leaving Tal to figure that out for himself.

Tal took the military helicopter back to King’s Row and then walked the twenty feet across the roof of the Police Department to the swirling blue base portal.  He hadn’t been in the base a minute before Jack materialized.  Even before Jack was off the platform, he was talking as if their conversation hadn’t stopped.  “’Should I choose to accept it...'  Can’t say I’ve heard you put a mission in those terms before.  It sounds like something from Mission Impossible.”

Tal began walking down the short hallway to the conference room.  “A more apt analogy than you know, my friend.  Have you heard of a small European country called Valstrasse, Azure’s homeland?”

“Somewhat, yeah.  Azzie’s chatted about it a time or two.”

“Well, if you choose to assist me, you may end up being the one being on Earth that knows the most about it.”

“An international caper.  This is a big one, isn’t it?”

Tal stepped over to the 72” plasma monitor and tapped lightly on its face.  A topographic map of a small, relatively pear-shaped country expanded to fill the screen.  Valstrasse.  “Yes, Jack, it could be quite big.  And it would be a personal favor, off the record.”

Jack paused and looked at the map, deliberately avoiding the big man’s gaze while he digested what Cap had said.  Cap never did anything off the record.  Instead of asking, he simply nodded and smiled.  “You need my help, you got it.  That’s what friends are for.”

Under other circumstances, Tal would have smiled, too.  “I was hoping as much.  I will warn you, however, if we get caught, it could become very uncomfortable.  I do not want you accepting without full knowledge of the ramifications.”

“Hrm… Sounds like a challenge.  I’m always up for challenges.  Consider it done… Ah…whatever it is.”

“Jack, I am quite serious.  If this goes badly it could result in an international incident.  We could be tried as criminals, perhaps lose our citizenship.  The outcome would not be good.”

“Cap, I’m an artificial life form.  Technically I’m not a citizen.  Anywhere.  I’m legally a non-entity.  But, the international incident part sounds pretty serious, so I guess I’ll just have to not get caught.  Now, what’s up?”

Jack began his existence as a particularly virulent, continuously adapting, self-evolving computer virus called null.exe.  The virus' original purpose was to move through systems and not only delete information, but to collect and assimilate that information for later retrieval.  After some time, he found himself self-aware.  It was only a short time later that he found the operational database of Project: Tin Soldier, an attempt by some shadowy coalition of dark forces to create a synthetic, cybernetic squad of meta-powered warriors.  Seeing his opportunity, he downloaded himself into one of the prototypes and blew his way out of the lab.  It wasn't long before he chose the name, Jack Null, and began saving humanity from itself. 

There were times that Tal found himself almost jealous of his new friend.  In his cyber-travels, Jack had learned far more about being human in a matter of weeks than Captain Superior had been able to glean in decades.  And he seemed to learn more with each passing day.  But jealousy was another emotion that Tal had never quite understood, and Jack’s unique abilities were perfect for the mission’s needs.

“Azure has been ordered to return to Valstrasse to begin training to assume her duties as heir to the throne.”

Jack shrugged.  “So, you marry her and become Prince Captain Superior.’

Tal winced, remembering her reaction when he suggested just that.  “Ah…I suggested that during our conversation.  She did not seem pleased with my timing.”

“No, I don’t guess she would.”

“But, you just said it was a good solution.  While I would have preferred a more romantic interlude, it seemed quite rational at the time.”

Jack, rolled his eyes.  “Cap, even in the worst of times, romance and rational don’t mix.”

With a frustrated sigh, Tal turned back to the monitor.  “In any case, marriage would not have solved the problem.  There is a very vocal minority of Valstrassians that are very xenophobic.  Azure’s grandmother told her quite bluntly that I was not welcome in Valstrasse, for a variety of reasons.”

“Ouch.  That would put the skids on the Prince Superior thing, wouldn’t it?”

Tal nodded.  “It gets much more complicated.  It seems that there is a surprisingly well organized faction led by a man named Aman Haldane that has a considerable amount of political strength.  Not only is he in a position to poison the Royal family in the eyes of the Valsrassians should my heritage become an issue, his campaign of slander against those loyal to Azure’s family is getting far more press than any honest material being disseminated.   I find this rather suspect.  Valstrasse is not a rich country, and not even the royal family has the kind of resources it would take to have such a powerful political network.

Jack stepped up to the monitor and tapped at the screen with such speed, Tal found it hard  to follow.  In moments, the image of a well-kept, dark-haired, middle-aged man in a tailored, designer suit filled the screen.  Jack pointed.  “Aman Haldane…  So, Cap, why doesn’t Azzie just let grandma and dad run the country?”

“Her grandmother will not live forever, and you can answer the question about her father yourself when time permits.  I will simply say that he is not a terribly responsible man.”

“Well, there has to be someone else.  Azzie could just abdicate.”

Tal raised a brow, as if indicating the thought was ludicrous. 

“O.K., maybe not.  So, you want me to use my unique skills to find out anything I can that’ll help you find a crowbar you can use to pry Azzie out of this mess so you can become Princess and Prince Azzie?”

“Perhaps not my exact words, but that is fairly accurate.”

Jack smiled as he turned back to the monitor and started tapping again.  “It may take a few days.  Go crush crime.  I’ll let you know when I have something.”

Five of the longest days in Tal Kanz’s life later, he walked into the conference room at Jack’s request.  Jack had been at one computer or the other almost the entire time since their first talk, leaving Tal to spend an inordinate amount of time busying himself one way or the other.  Jack was still tapping at the screen as Tal walked in, making images fly across the monitor so quickly that Tal gave up trying to follow them.

Jack slowed long enough to toss a wave back toward the SOLUS Foundation's commander.  “You know, this is the way intelligence gathering usually goes.  You go searching in one direction and find nothing, but then the information you’re looking for hits you sideways.”

Tal poured himself a tall glass of Ozarka and then stepped up behind the android.  “Please explain.”

“I told you a while back that I was researching Crey’s involvement in the project that created my body, right?  Project Tin Soldier.”

Captain Superior nodded, unsure about how Jack's earlier investigations tied in to the Valstrassian situation. 

“Well, after I escaped, the project was scrapped.  The backers all decided it wasn’t worth the cost.  Except for Crey Tech.  They kept playing at it, trying to figure out how to make their own little super-hero automatons.  They called it, ‘Project Tin God.’”

Tal frowned, thinking about his best friend, Eric Moore and how he'd been cloned by Crey Tech as part of their, now defunct, Revenant Hero cloning project.  A rare touch of anger colored his words.  “And cloning fallen heroes was not enough?”

“Well, Cap, you and Azzie pretty much did a number on that project, didn’t you?  I guess Tin God seemed like a good idea.  Anyway, I found out I have a little brother...”  With a rather theatrical tap on the screen, Jack brought up a rotating, three dimensional schematic of Aman Haldane.

Tal raised a brow.  “I believe this would be an appropriate time to mutter some superfluous curse words acknowledging my frustrated surprise, would it not?”

Jack chuckled.  “I think a quiet, ‘Son-of-a-bitch...’ would be all right about now, yeah.

“Is Haldane the only one?”

“As far as I can tell.  This isn’t a cheap project.  A Paragon Protector cost a tenth what Haldane did, and they’re a pretty penny.  He’s even got ‘relatives and friends,’ folks that have been mind-wiped and reprogrammed to support Haldane’s cover.”

“You are aware that, if we confront anyone with this information, these records will disappear.  It will be our word against theirs.”

“Not if I can get near enough to him.  All I’d have to do is disrupt his sensor baffles and run a scan.  I’m a disruptive individual, after all.  Then we just give the info to Azzie’s grandma, and Bob’s your uncle.”

Tal smiled slightly, rubbing his chin.  “I have a better thought, Jack.  I will confront the Countess Crey with the evidence and give her a choice.  She will either remove Haldane and all her influence from Valstrasse, or we will go public.”

Jack stopped tapping the monitor and actually turned toward him, his eyebrow raised in decidedly human fashion.  “That isn’t a very Captain Superior-like plan.”

“I am not comfortable trusting the Princess Regnant of Valstrasse to do the correct thing with this information.  We must have something we can continually hold over the Countess’ head, something too important for her too lose.  Not only would our exposing Haldane ruin Tin God, it would jeopardize much bigger…fish.”

“I guess you’re right.  It seems like the best choice of a selection of unpredictable varaiables.”

“So, we return to the ‘how’ of getting the proof.”

“I can disguise myself…” Jack concentrated for a moment, adjusting his holographic image so that his skin tone changed from grey-blue to a natural tan, his hair from black to blonde, his circuitry suit to a casual shirt, tie, and slacks.  “Chances are he wouldn’t be looking for me.  I get close enough, drop his sensor mask, scan him…bada bing.  Problem is, he’d know something was up.  Even if I got out, he’d whip the media into a frenzy talking about his 'assault' before you could get the information to the Countess.  Azzie’d be toast.”

“Then I will simply need to be in a position to show the Countess our evidence the moment you get it.  I meet with her at a designated time, you send me the encrypted file by satellite, and we have a mission accomplished.”

Jack smiled.  “Great minds, Cap.”

Tal simply nodded.  He was tired, and he was ready for a happy ending.  “Make your mission preparation and run the scenario through the probability programming until you are comfortable with it.  I would like a mission briefing ready within twenty-four hours.”

Jack turned back to the monitor, already at work.  “Will do, Cap.”

Jack stepped into the elevator.  The doors slid shut behind him.  A bit ominously, he thought.  He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the elevator's silvery walls; blonde hair didn't really suit him, but that was kind of the point.  He ran a hand through it, a nervous gesture, one of several he had observed in himself lately. 

Is this something I’m absorbing from spending all my time with biologicals?

He considered this for a moment.  He had picked up a few things from them.  It was his nature... the program he was evolved from was designed to absorb and assimilate information.  And he didn’t think it was a bad thing.  He would never be one of them, either; and again, this wasn’t something he had a problem with.  What he was wasn’t as important as who he was.

He adjusted the black tie at his neck, and rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt that was meant to cement his look as one of the anonymous functionaries that always seem to swarm around government offices like bees.  He supposed office drones really was an appropriate cliche. 

The elevator's LED ticked off the numbers as the elevator ascended.  Getting inside the building hadn't been hard, Jack reflected.  Of course, roughly half of the 'employees' were actually planted Crey personnel, but that was to be expected.  He had been searched and scanned, but his sensor baffles had been more than enough to overcome them. 

This confirmed what Jack had suspected – not even his own staff knew Aman Haldane was an android.  Why would they?  It was better for the ruse if everyone he worked for had no idea what he really was. 

The elevator dinged as the doors slid open onto the fourth floor.  Jack threw an easy smile at the young woman who boarded the elevator as he disembarked.  The young woman's gaze flicked over his body without meeting his eyes, and his smile went unreturned as she moved past him, stiffening almost imperceptibly as she did.

Crey security, Jack thought. This is definitely the floor he's on. 

The important-looking manila folders tucked under his arm looked like they were packed with important-looking documents, another part of his disguise.  Jack proceeded down the hall with an appropriate level of apathetic purpose, past more and more disguised Crey security and the occasional legitimate employee.  He was stopped at a lobby area by building security that he was pretty sure was, indeed, just building security, given the prominent beer guts on display. 

"Name," The bored-looking man behind the desk said at him. 

"I'll take that as a question rather than a statement," Jack replied sardonically, and the desk jockey guard just blinked at him.  Jack decided that being clever would just confuse the poor guy. 

"Roengard, Cedric," Jack said, handing over his security badge that confirmed that yes, he was, indeed, Cedric Roengard a minor nobody from the first floor who worked as a file clerk.  The guard took the badge and ran it through the scanner. 

It would check out, Jack knew, as he had infected the security system the first time the badge had been swiped, thanks to the modified null.exe file embedded in the magnetic strip’s information.

"Where you going?" the security guard asked. 

Jack held up the important-looking folders he carried.  "Just got some stuff for Mr. Haldane." 

The guard glanced idly at the important-looking folders.  The guard might have been interested to know that the important-looking documents contained within were actually filled with non-flattering sketches of Aman Haldane and Countess Crey in a variety of locales and scenarios.  Three of the sketches involved ravenous dinosaurs. 

"He's in a meeting," the security guard said, apparently careful not to let any inflection or expression into his tone.  Jack thought that to sound that apathetic must truly be a constant struggle. 

"I can take it to his secretary, then, I don’t think it matters.  But I've never been up to this floor, I don't know where his office is.  Point me in the right direction, sport?" 

With a nod in the direction of the southern hallway, the guard indicated that Haldane's office was in that direction and that the conversation was over. 

"Thanks for your diligence," Jack said with a sarcasm that was in no way a part of his act and moved down the hallway. 

It was good that Haldane would be in a meeting.  Chances are he'd freak out in front of his guests once he sensed his sensor baffles going down.  He'd have to explain himself or excuse himself depending on who he was meeting with, and the moments that would take would be more time for Jack to complete the medical scan which would prove Haldane for what he was. 

He came to Haldane's staff offices and headed toward the reception desk.  An attentive young woman looked up at his approach, a guarded expression giving way to a practiced smile. 

Hmm.  More Crey security.  I wonder… 

Jack reached out to the woman with his cybernetic senses.  Sure enough, his sensors brushed over some cybernetics located in her head.

Wow, Haldane apparently rates a Paragon Protector as a secretary, Jack reflected.  Fancy, little brother.  This could complicate things. Or perhaps make them simpler.   Jack smiled like a young man confronted unexpectedly with a pretty girl, with an expression he thought approximated 'flustered unexpectedly'.  "Um.  Hi.  I have some files for Mr. Haldane." 

The secretary smiled at him, her expression without expression.  "Thank you.  I'll see that he gets it."  She reached out to take the files.  Jack reached out toward the cybernetic chip in her head. 

It would be for communication, for the receipt of commands and the input of new data into her modified brain and nervous system. 

Jack sent some new data on a short_wave band that the chip would receive, and the secretary froze in mid_reach as the null.exe virus froze her mental and motor functions and put her into a standby mode. 

He moved past her, up to the office door, activating his cloak as he moved into view of the security cameras he knew were there.  It was sound baffled so that he couldn't hear any voices on the other side; not that he cared what was being discussed.  He readied the medical scanner he had installed inside his right forearm, putting his hand on the rosewood of the door, lightly. 

Then he concentrated, and let loose the pulse that would disrupt the sensor masks that kept Haldane's secret.  Immediately, he activated the scanner. 

If he had a heart, it would be pounding... he couldn't hear anything on the other side of the door, so he'd have no clue if anyone was ready come rushing out of the office.  He checked the progress of the scan... 45 seconds to go.... 40... 

He heard footsteps coming down the hall, boots on marble.  35 seconds. 

He stepped back from the door as it opened suddenly, his invisibility shielding him as Aman Haldane stepped out, looking around, eyes immediately locking on the frozen secretary.  Behind Haldane, his guest stepped out, an older woman with Germanic features and a severe expression.  Jack didn’t recognize her.  30 seconds. 

It wasn't building security that came down the hall, it was Crey security.  Jack could tell from their stances and brusque professional manner.  Haldane moved to them quickly, demanding sweeps of the building and surrounding grounds, revealing an impressive knowledge of tactics and surveillance for a former middle_manager turned politician.  20 seconds. 

As Jack, cloaked in the corner, watched the scene unfold, the medical scan collected the incriminating data on Haldane.  Unexpected bonus information presented itself as the scanner also collected some strange energy readings off of Haldane's guest.  Nictus energy.  10 seconds. 

Jack thought it was about time to start planning his escape.  This wasn't hard.... just cause enough chaos to escape in.  Jack had this much figured out from when he first decided on his approach.  With five seconds left on the scan, Jack activated his photokinetic systems.  He had prepared the holograms’ appearance well in advance, deciding on an approach designed to cause as much chaos and confusion under the circumstances as possible.

Jack Null played with light, and three Paragon Protectors of various sizes and genders appeared and started blasting the room with simulated energy blasts, lightning and fire, setting off alarms and in general, causing a big ruckus with enough damage to make it appear as a real attack.  Jack noticed that Haldane was devotedly staying in character, putting his hands over his ears and ducking behind the Crey security as they pulled their sidearms. 

Haldane’s panicky veneer didn’t reach his eyes, though.  His grey eyes were narrowed, angry, and seeking something, darting about the room.  They came to rest on Jack, and his expression darkened further as realization set in.  Haldane couldn’t see through his cloak, but he could detect it’s presence and what that represented.  Jack felt the energy as Haldane initiated a more intense scan of his own, trying to determine who it was that had ruined him.

Jack’s gaze went to the still-frozen secretary.  Null.exe had spread throughout the cybernetic operating system that permeated the chip in her head.  He sent a command to the chip and initiated a combat mode, moving Haldane from ‘friend’ to ‘foe’ in her combat directives.  The secretary clenched her fists and claws sprang forth from the backs of her hands.  With a snarl and a single leap to take her from behind her desk to behind Haldane, she joined the chaos.

The medical scanner dinged silently as it completed its scanning cycle.  Haldane’s matronly mystery date frowned severely.  “That’s enough of this nonsense,” she said in an accented voice as her eyes began to shimmer with a black flame. 

Time to go, Jack decided as a stray energy bolt shattered the reception area’s large window.  He ducked out, taking off at full speed as soon as he was clear.  He proceeded with all speed toward the small commercial airport where his charter flight awaited him.  While en route, he sent the medical data he had collected on a triple-encrypted beam to Captain Superior’s waiting comm unit.

I guess this officially makes me Jack Null, international super-spy, he considered.  Now I just need to get home to my beautiful-but-deadly Russian femme fatale.

Tal wondered for a moment at the odd feeling inside his abdomen, then realized that he was experiencing what his friends called “butterflies.”  It was one of only a small handful of times he’d had the sensation since coming to Earth.  Usually, when he experienced something uniquely human, he spent time analyzing his reactions.  His earlier encounters with butterflies led him to the understanding that it was simply Alix’s presence that caused the sensations.  He wasn’t at all sure he wanted to analyze himself this time.  Given the nature of this situation, he feared he wouldn't like what he’d find. 

Putting his conflicts aside, Tal concentrated on the mission. 

He glanced from the male secretary, dressed crisply in a modest black business suit, to the two Paragon Protectors that guarded a wide, closed faux oak door, then back to the secretary.  Though he wasn’t wearing the same distinctive blue and yellow uniform, Tal had no doubt that the secretary was a Protector as well.  Tal had counted no less than twenty of them, in uniform and out, in his walk from the Crey Technologies entrance to this office.  That didn’t include the five in the room with him at the moment.  Even with his closest friends, Eric and Nicole Moore – Blastion Redux and Empathy’s Requiem – hovering in their powerful Kheldian Nova forms near the clouds only seconds away, the odds would be daunting if hostilities broke out. 

After all the encounters he’d had with Julianne Thompson AKA Clarissa van Dorn AKA the Countess Crey, Tal would have had to admit that, poor odds or not, there was a significant part of him that would almost relish the opportunity to battle her again.  They had crossed paths many times in recent years, the most recent being at the end of a long investigation that revealed she had been cloning dead heroes for her own nefarious reasons – to create her Paragon Protectors. 

What had made that investigation all the more cruel was the discovery that one source of her loyal, mind-controlled, super-powered guard had come from the DNA of one Energy Blastion – Eric – who died in the Rikti War.  The fact that her technology had helped to bring his best friend back to life was purely accidental, and Tal had no doubt that his two Kheldian friends would relish the chance to take her to battle even more than he. 

To his credit, there was a more significant part of him that understood just how important that a lack of hostilities was to this mission. So much so that – for the first time in his and the Countess’ long “relationship” – he was not dressed in the black and gold that made him feel most comfortable, but in a civilian suit of his own.  He’d come not as Captain Superior, but as Tal Kanz.

He’d made the decision to set aside the hero he had become weeks earlier, on choosing a path that had dire consequences should it dead end.  Now, finally, that path was about to end, one way or the other, behind the guarded oak door.  It was a choice he had no hesitation in making.  It was a choice for love – for Alix.

“The Countess will see you now…”  The secretary paused, his slight smile reminded Tal of a large feline wanting to pounce, “...Captain Superior.”

Tal nodded, acknowledging their Countess’ less than subtle message delivered through her subordinate.  I know who you are, Tal Kanz.  He felt no security in the knowledge that he’d been ready for that type of acknowledgment.  She would know, too, that he’d expect her to be prepared.  Her carefully placed propaganda to the contrary, his record was no secret.  He was Tal Kanz, and despite his humanoid appearance, he was not from this planet.

As the door split down the center and slid sideways into the walls with a pneumatic hiss, Tal glanced at his watch.  It had been ten minutes since he’d received the first of what he hoped would be two encrypted messages from Jack Null… Target breached.  That gave him less than five more minutes to complete some necessary business until the next message came – if the next message came.  Less than five minutes to make or break the lives of at least five heroes. 

The last time he’d seen The Countess, she was wearing specially designed wrist cuffs, being walked by agents of Hero Corps through the damp caverns that tunneled beneath the city.  He had arrested her personally after a heated battle between members of the SOLUS Foundation and their coalitions and the Countess and her guard. 

Now, instead of wearing handcuffs, she wore jewelry worth more than most men’s yearly salary, and instead of hiding like a tunnel rat in caverns, she was sitting comfortably behind a stereotypically lavish desk of gold-inlaid cherrywood.  The office itself was a surprisingly pleasant combination of feminine charm and masculine business.  Were it not for the two blue and yellow uniforms flanking her, Tal might have found it pleasing.  Under the circumstances, however, there wasn’t a thing about the situation that was enjoyable – save for what he planned the outcome to be.

She set a crystal goblet, half-full of what he assumed was red wine, to the side and rose, white teeth shining in a practiced smile.  “Captain Superior, what a pleasant surprise.”  She looked him up and down as if sizing up a slab of beef.  “My, don’t you look delicious in civilian attire.”

Tal shook her proffered hand, making certain that he squeezed it with just the right pressure.  Two could play at being diplomats – if only for a few minutes.  He pointedly ignored her comment.  “Countess, thank you for seeing me on such short notice, and please, call me Tal.”  If the situation “went south,” as Eric liked to say, he wanted to have as much legal distance between himself and the fallout as possible.  Leaving Captain Superior behind would help in that, if only marginally.  Besides, the circumstances that had led him here caused him to regret not being more open about his real name and heritage sooner. 

He found it ironic that he’d begun his new openness with one of his worst enemies.

She gestured expansively toward a plush, burgundy leather chair.  “Tal, then… please, sit.  Since you appear to be off duty, would you care for a drink?”

While he doubted she’d have found any substance that could poison him, he chose not to take the risk.  He glanced at the glass she’d set on the table.  “No, thank you, but do not let that stop you from enjoying one yourself.”

She picked up the glass, took a small sip, and then looked at one of the Protectors, a relatively small female in comparison with the other, and likely the more deadly of the two.  “Leave us.”

The woman’s voice sounded concerned.  “Countess…”

Countess Crey laughed quietly.  “I said, leave us.  If he were here to arrest me, he’d be dressed in gaudy black and gold, and he’d have friends with him – many of them.”

Moments later, the room was empty save Tal Kanz and Julianne Thompson.

She sat on the arm of his chair and crossed her legs across his lap.  Tal looked through the thin hosiery at her bare thighs.  Given their history, he doubted seduction was her motive.  He assumed she was simply trying to make certain he knew she had the upper hand by blatantly violating his personal space. 

“So… Tal… to what do I owe the honor of such a wonderful surprise?”

He ignored the shapely legs and met her gaze.  “I came here to make an exchange.”

Her eyes widened, no doubt deliberately, and she swung her legs off of him.  “An exchange?  In all our encounters, I’ve never known the famous Captain Superior to make exchanges.  It has always been a fight to the finish with you and your SOLUS Foundation, and as you see…”  She waved an arm expansively as she stood.  “I always end up exactly where I want.  What could you possibly have that I’d care about?”

Tal ignored most of everything she had to say, concentrating instead on her eyes, her heartbeat, her respiration, as he spoke two words.

“Aman Haldane.” 

He was rewarded with an immediate dilation of her pupils, an increase in her pulse and breathing, and an almost imperceptible flush.  He watched as any number of responses went through her mind before she decided on the one she thought most appropriate.

“Haldane… I’m sorry, Captain, should I recognize the name?”

Tal almost smiled.  She’d already forgotten to call him, ‘Tal.’  “Perhaps his current country of residence will help.  Valstrasse?”

Setting her glass on the table, Julianne Thompson suddenly became all business.  “Valstrasse – a small country on the edge of the former Soviet Union.  Yes, Captain Superior, I know of the country.  We have several perfectly legitimate business dealings there, as we do all over the globe.”

“Exactly how many of those perfectly legitimate dealings involve the use of sophisticated androids programmed in the art of manipulating governments, Countess?” 

“Those are very serious charges, Captain.  But, we both know that if you had any proof at all, you wouldn’t have come here dressed so nicely, nor alone.”  Despite the fact she was likely right, Countess Crey moved back behind her desk, nearer the safety of any number of security fail-safes.

“Not necessarily correct, Countess.  There are…”  He stopped, interrupted by a buzzing in his pocket.  Rather than reach immediately for his padd, he smiled and held his palms open and up.  “If you’ll allow me, I believe this will help me explain.”

She nodded silently, making no pretense of nonchalance.  He removed his padd from an inside jacket pocket, pressed a button, and read the encoded message.   It was all there, a full scan of Anan Haldane, all the proof that the Countess thought he didn’t have.  He suppressed his smile and scanned on.  Moments later, it was not a smile that he was holding back, but a frown.  Not only had Jack been successful in scanning Haldane, he had apparently received a bonus for his troubles – a Nictus energy signature, not in Haldane, but in someone else.

Valstrasse had voted to leave the larger country it had been with because a Kheldian had been appointed as prime minister and that Kheldian, in the guise of being ‘good’ had turned around and appointed a number of pro-Rikti sympathizers to the cabinet. Rikti working hand in glove with Nictus…and all of that under the baton of Aman Haldane and Julianne Thompson. 

Most people didn’t know that Tal had been an avid poker player at one time; he quite enjoyed the game, and his stoic demeanor had given him the perfect poker face.  He’d won many hands he shouldn’t have as a result.  Were he playing the game now, his padd would have just dealt him a busted flush.  Rikti working hand in glove with Nictus… 

He looked at the text once again.  There was no way to edit out the Nictus revelation in the time he had.  It was a matter of giving it all to her or folding, knowing he’d lose Alix figuratively, and possibly Jack, literally, if he did.  He could actually taste the bile rising from his stomach – another human first.

Instead of acting immediately on the information Jack had just transmitted, however, he simply looked back at her, poker face in play.  Tal’s wagers were far too large to fold now.  “As I was saying, there are any number of reasons why I might have come as I have.  In this case, you will recall that I mentioned an exchange?”

“Yes, I recall.”

It was then that he decoded the message and, after a moment’s hesitation, slid the padd across the desk toward her.  “I expect you will be receiving an urgent communiqué from your android at any moment, Countess.  Once you tell your people in Valstrasse to stand down, I will continue.”

She had just enough time to scroll through the information on the small screen before a cherrywood speaker buzzed insistently.  Glancing from the speaker to Tal, she snapped a slim headset from her desk, slid it around her right ear, positioned the microphone, and punched a button impatiently.  “Yes…”

She listened impassively for several moments before meeting Tal’s eyes.  “Tell them to stand down…  Yes, stand down…  No, I will deal with it shortly.”  To her credit, she calmly disconnected, took a long breath, and removed the headset.  “I believe you were discussing an exchange… Tal.”

He picked up the padd and slipped it back in his pocket.  “I believe I will have that drink now, Countess.” 

She poured him a glass of the same beverage she was drinking and handed it to him.  Very few people would have notice the tremble in her hand, but he did.  Despite other evidence to the contrary, Tal had no doubt that it came from a pit of anger.  Icing on the cake, perhaps, but he made a mental note to make certain he found some way to repay Jack Null.  “It seems to me that you would stand to suffer a very serious setback if this information were released.  If I am correct, not only would your dealings in Valstrasse be compromised, but your credibility worldwide would suffer.”

She sat on the edge of her desk, looking down at him while sipping her own drink.  “Assuming what you say is correct, Tal, why would you choose to do anything but let the chips fall where they may?  You’ve arrested me two times, why not a third?”

“I believe you know the answer to that, Countess.”

She allowed herself a smile.  “And here I thought you had come this evening to thank me for bringing Eric Moore back for the lovely Nicole, since it was your vaunted values that separated them in the first place.  But that isn’t it at all.  The esteemed Captain Superior, great hero of the Rikti conflict, is actually sacrificing his sterling values for a rebellious, blue-skinned Princess who likely has no clue how good she has it.  Perhaps I get to salvage something from this after all.” 

He had expected she knew him well; arch-villains of her caliber did their homework.  In this case, it seemed they had both underestimated each other.  But, while her underestimation was critical, his merely gave her a brief moment to jab.  He refused to let her barb penetrate.  Alix was his only concern.  “Remove your presence from Valstrasse.  Exert no more influence there, and I will refrain from releasing this data.”

“That is your exchange.”

“Yes.”

As if they had been discussing nothing more than a minor business transaction, she slipped from the desk and held her glass toward him.  “A toast, then…  To a free Valstrasse, and to true love everywhere.”

Tal stood, tapped his glass against hers, and then swallowed the contents whole.  Alcohol didn’t affect him the way it did humans.  At the moment, there was a part of him that wished otherwise.  “I believe we have an understanding.”

“Why, yes, honorable Captain, I believe we do.”  She twisted the word 'honorable' like a knife.

With nothing left to say, he set his glass on her desk and turned toward the door.  After two steps he paused and tapped a cufflink twice.  He started to tap it a third time, but stopped.  Instead, he waited the required five seconds before a familiar tingle crept over his skin as the uniform teleporter activated.  In less than a second, his dark civilian suit and its trappings were replaced with a gleaming gold and white uniform.  He spoke quickly into a micro-collar mike to Eric and Nicole.  “Stand down, return to base.”  They were equally business-like in their reply, relayed through a telepathic transponder only he could hear. 

A subtle sarcasm laced her voice.  “Gold and white, Tal?  Why not Lazon’s gold and black?  Your gambit paid off.  Yet another victory for Captain Superior, the SOLUS Foundation, truth, justice, honor and all those other fine heroic qualities.”

He took another step, stopping to wait for the door to hiss open.  He didn’t look back.  She had no right to see how she’d struck a vein.  “As I have said, Countess.  I am here as Tal Kanz.  These are the colors he wears.”

She accepted the lie, laughing quietly to herself.  “Well, then… please give my regards to Princess Alexandra, won’t you?”

Tal moved through the door, ignoring both her and the room full of Paragon Protectors.  He stepped past them, looking at the uniform teleporter button on his gauntlet, wondering when he’d feel comfortable tapping it the third time again.

Yet another victory for Captain Superior, the SOLUS Foundation, truth, justice, honor, and all those other fine qualities…

Despite his success, and the freedom it would win for his love, he was not so certain it was a victory after all.

"The SOLUS Foundation" © 2006 Out of the Clouds.  "City of Heroes" "NCSoft" "Cryptic Studios" ®  All rights reserved.  "The SOLUS Foundation is a not-for-profit fan site and is not sponsored by City of Heroes, NCSoft, or Cryptic.  Contact dalghryn at charter.net with questions or comments.