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Just doing my job
folder
Original - Misc › Superheroes
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
25
Views:
2,367
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Original - Misc › Superheroes
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
25
Views:
2,367
Reviews:
4
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Ivory towers
I moved over to the opening and helped Sid through before following her. The inside of the craft was cramped, the steady hum of powerful machinery everywhere.
“Sorry that things are a mess, but this is only a prototype.” Simon returned to a pilots seat at the front of the craft, “My farther was building her when he died: gravimetric engine, completely inertialess and fitted with an artificial gravity field that is much more efficient that that used on Luna.”
“Yeah, but does it come in black.” I grabbed a seat against one wall and buckled in, “You want to get us out of here?”
“No problem…” Simon pulled back on the control column and pulled back on what I presume was the throttle, as the ship shot upwards at immense speed. Despite this, we felt no effect.
“How long would it take us to reach Armstrong City?” I asked.
“About an hour.” Simon looked back over his shoulder, “We could go faster, but we’d would set of the orbital defence satellites. As it is, I have to mask our approach to stop my fathers killers from shooting us down.”
“By all means, take your time.” Sid still looked a little shaken by everything.
“I second that.” I nodded, sifting in my seat until I was comfortable, “I could use the rest…”
*********************************************************************
Armstrong City doesn’t look like much from the outside. In order to shield those inside from radiation, the builders dug deep tunnels into the side of a crater. The bulk of the city is situated in vast caverns deep below the surface, lit by powerful lamps that give the impression of day and night.
The spaceport is located in the middle of the crater, far enough away that there in no danger to the city itself should anything go wrong. Simon brought the ship down on a landing pad at the edge of the spaceport so smoothly that the first clue that we’d touched down was the thud of the landing clamps securing around the undercarriage. There was a jolt as the landing pad started to descend into the hanger below, taking us with it.
“It’ll take a few minuets to pressurise the outside.” Simon unfastened his restraints and stood, “You guys should be safe up here: ever since the Lagrange station was destroyed, the Council has need rather ‘hands-off’ when it comes to dealing with the U.N.”
“So they know it wasn’t Ren?” Sid asked, still not believing everything that had happened in such a short space of time.
“They are fully aware of what is going on, but they seem, unconcerned.” Simon looked worried; “I fear that you may have come all this way for nothing.”
“These people murdered your farther, a member of the Ruling Council.” I shook my head, “They have to get involved.”
*********************************************************************
“We see no reason to involve ourselves in what is happening on Earth.” Anastasius LaCroix, chairman of the Armstrong City Ruling Council looked at us from behind his desk, “We have already voted to suspend all contact with the U.N. until the situation resolves itself.”
“You have got to be joking?” I blinked, unable to believe what I’d just been told.
“The problems of Earth are not the problems of Luna: we are, by international agreement, an independent nation. Even the prison on Dark Side is under our control…”
“So how do you explain Reaper getting out?”
“He was being transferred here for a routine medical exam when the transport he was on exploded. We assume that he was killed, along with everyone else onboard.”
“How very convenient for you…”
“How dare you!” LaCroix slammed his fist down on the desk, snapping the sheet metal in two, “How dare you come up here, after causing so much trouble on earth, and try and tell me how do my job? What right do you have?”
“What right do I have? I have the right given to me by Dr Philip Lang when he asked me to investigate the disappearance of several superhumans who were planning to emigrate here. I have the right given to me when I swore an oath to defend England against all enemies. I have the right I was given when I was born! You sit up here, comfortable in your Ivory Towers and look down on Earth and those of us who decided to stay and try and make things better. You consider yourself to be such a powerful person, but when push came to shove, you jumped ship with all the others. We’re human, and no matter how far we travel, Earth will always be our home.”
“You are out of line Mr Drake: I have over a dozen requests from Earth to have you arrested, tried for crimes ranging from common assault to treason, convicted and sentenced to life without parole in a freezer at Dark Side. And every moment I spend in your presence make me more likely to comply. Get out of my office and out of my city: you are no longer welcome on Luna!”
“So, that’s how it is.” I looked at LaCroix, and a faint smile played across my lips, “You have made your position in this matter very clear. I am not a vindictive man by nature, nor am I prone to acts of petty vengeance. But I will remember this conversation.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No, I’m merely telling you: this isn’t over till I say its over.”
*********************************************************************
“So I take it things didn’t go so well?” Simon was waiting with Sidney outside when I stormed out of LaCroix’s office.
“Stuck up, self-righteous son-of-a-bitch!” I snapped as I stormed past them and out of the Council building and into the park beyond, deliberately ignoring the signs telling me to keep off the grass, “Who in the hell does he think he is?”
“He thinks he’s Anastasius LaCroix, the third most powerful superhuman alive and chairman of the Armstrong City Ruling Council.” Simon shrugged, “I guess he thinks he has the right to his opinion…”
“He’s willing to sit back and watch Earth burn, just as long as it doesn’t affect Luna.” I stopped dead in my tracks, “Can he be that foolish? Any war on Earth will spill over into space. Hell, the Dark Side cryo-prison contains over a hundred superhumans with only a caretaker staff. I know of half a dozen strike teams that could take that place over and release the inmates. Most of them would be willing to fight any war in order to get out. Hell, some of them are willing to fight for no reason.”
“There must be safeguards.” Sid asked, “There must be some way we can prove to them that the city is in danger.”
“This city has the most advanced defensive system known to man, and that’s not counting the inhabitants.” Simon shook his head, “The colony is completely self-sufficient. I should no; I helped my father make sure it was.”
“We need to get back to Earth as soon as we can: Ren and the others will have headed back to Kay’s place by now.”
“I still can’t believe you’ve included Kali the Destroyer in this.” Sid rolled her eyes.
“That’s the sort of guy he is.” A voice came from the shadows under a nearby tree, and there was a flash of light as a cigarette was lit, “He’s always liked to live a little on the edge.”
“Well will you look what the cat dragged in?” I laughed, “John Loch.”
“The one and only.” The former Crime Lord smiled as he walked over to us, “Hear you’ve been having some fun back home.”
“Some people trying to move in on my manor. Got to show ‘em who’s boss.”
“Times have changed a little from when you could sort this sort of stuff out will a sawn-off. The world went and got itself too complicated for the likes of me.”
“Pull the other one John: you’re still the same man you were the time you gave me a thick ear for shoplifting.”
“You shoplifted?” Sid looked startled.
“Yeah, my misspent youth.” I laughed, “Mr Loch here caught me red-handed the one and only time I ever broke the law. Scared the living daylights out of me.”
“It kept you on the strait and narrow, didn’t it?” Loch smiled, blowing a smoke right, “So what’s going on back home?”
“Same as ever: someone wants to take over the world. Or failing that, just England. Someone over in America has it in to their head that World War 3 is on its way, and the best way to come out on the winning side is to make old Blighty the 51st State of the Union.”
“You going to stand by and let that happen?”
“No, mainly because people will get hurt in the process, but also because I happen to like England the way she has been for the last thousand years: independent and proud of it.”
“Good.” Loch smiled, a strange glint in his eye, “Then we have somewhere to start.”
“You are coming out of retirement?” Sid looked a little surprised.
“My dear, I fully intend to find out who’s behind this hideous assault on Queen and Country, and rip their heart out with my bare hands.” Loch flicked his cigarette away, “So, where’s your ship parked?
To Be Continued…
“Sorry that things are a mess, but this is only a prototype.” Simon returned to a pilots seat at the front of the craft, “My farther was building her when he died: gravimetric engine, completely inertialess and fitted with an artificial gravity field that is much more efficient that that used on Luna.”
“Yeah, but does it come in black.” I grabbed a seat against one wall and buckled in, “You want to get us out of here?”
“No problem…” Simon pulled back on the control column and pulled back on what I presume was the throttle, as the ship shot upwards at immense speed. Despite this, we felt no effect.
“How long would it take us to reach Armstrong City?” I asked.
“About an hour.” Simon looked back over his shoulder, “We could go faster, but we’d would set of the orbital defence satellites. As it is, I have to mask our approach to stop my fathers killers from shooting us down.”
“By all means, take your time.” Sid still looked a little shaken by everything.
“I second that.” I nodded, sifting in my seat until I was comfortable, “I could use the rest…”
*********************************************************************
Armstrong City doesn’t look like much from the outside. In order to shield those inside from radiation, the builders dug deep tunnels into the side of a crater. The bulk of the city is situated in vast caverns deep below the surface, lit by powerful lamps that give the impression of day and night.
The spaceport is located in the middle of the crater, far enough away that there in no danger to the city itself should anything go wrong. Simon brought the ship down on a landing pad at the edge of the spaceport so smoothly that the first clue that we’d touched down was the thud of the landing clamps securing around the undercarriage. There was a jolt as the landing pad started to descend into the hanger below, taking us with it.
“It’ll take a few minuets to pressurise the outside.” Simon unfastened his restraints and stood, “You guys should be safe up here: ever since the Lagrange station was destroyed, the Council has need rather ‘hands-off’ when it comes to dealing with the U.N.”
“So they know it wasn’t Ren?” Sid asked, still not believing everything that had happened in such a short space of time.
“They are fully aware of what is going on, but they seem, unconcerned.” Simon looked worried; “I fear that you may have come all this way for nothing.”
“These people murdered your farther, a member of the Ruling Council.” I shook my head, “They have to get involved.”
*********************************************************************
“We see no reason to involve ourselves in what is happening on Earth.” Anastasius LaCroix, chairman of the Armstrong City Ruling Council looked at us from behind his desk, “We have already voted to suspend all contact with the U.N. until the situation resolves itself.”
“You have got to be joking?” I blinked, unable to believe what I’d just been told.
“The problems of Earth are not the problems of Luna: we are, by international agreement, an independent nation. Even the prison on Dark Side is under our control…”
“So how do you explain Reaper getting out?”
“He was being transferred here for a routine medical exam when the transport he was on exploded. We assume that he was killed, along with everyone else onboard.”
“How very convenient for you…”
“How dare you!” LaCroix slammed his fist down on the desk, snapping the sheet metal in two, “How dare you come up here, after causing so much trouble on earth, and try and tell me how do my job? What right do you have?”
“What right do I have? I have the right given to me by Dr Philip Lang when he asked me to investigate the disappearance of several superhumans who were planning to emigrate here. I have the right given to me when I swore an oath to defend England against all enemies. I have the right I was given when I was born! You sit up here, comfortable in your Ivory Towers and look down on Earth and those of us who decided to stay and try and make things better. You consider yourself to be such a powerful person, but when push came to shove, you jumped ship with all the others. We’re human, and no matter how far we travel, Earth will always be our home.”
“You are out of line Mr Drake: I have over a dozen requests from Earth to have you arrested, tried for crimes ranging from common assault to treason, convicted and sentenced to life without parole in a freezer at Dark Side. And every moment I spend in your presence make me more likely to comply. Get out of my office and out of my city: you are no longer welcome on Luna!”
“So, that’s how it is.” I looked at LaCroix, and a faint smile played across my lips, “You have made your position in this matter very clear. I am not a vindictive man by nature, nor am I prone to acts of petty vengeance. But I will remember this conversation.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No, I’m merely telling you: this isn’t over till I say its over.”
*********************************************************************
“So I take it things didn’t go so well?” Simon was waiting with Sidney outside when I stormed out of LaCroix’s office.
“Stuck up, self-righteous son-of-a-bitch!” I snapped as I stormed past them and out of the Council building and into the park beyond, deliberately ignoring the signs telling me to keep off the grass, “Who in the hell does he think he is?”
“He thinks he’s Anastasius LaCroix, the third most powerful superhuman alive and chairman of the Armstrong City Ruling Council.” Simon shrugged, “I guess he thinks he has the right to his opinion…”
“He’s willing to sit back and watch Earth burn, just as long as it doesn’t affect Luna.” I stopped dead in my tracks, “Can he be that foolish? Any war on Earth will spill over into space. Hell, the Dark Side cryo-prison contains over a hundred superhumans with only a caretaker staff. I know of half a dozen strike teams that could take that place over and release the inmates. Most of them would be willing to fight any war in order to get out. Hell, some of them are willing to fight for no reason.”
“There must be safeguards.” Sid asked, “There must be some way we can prove to them that the city is in danger.”
“This city has the most advanced defensive system known to man, and that’s not counting the inhabitants.” Simon shook his head, “The colony is completely self-sufficient. I should no; I helped my father make sure it was.”
“We need to get back to Earth as soon as we can: Ren and the others will have headed back to Kay’s place by now.”
“I still can’t believe you’ve included Kali the Destroyer in this.” Sid rolled her eyes.
“That’s the sort of guy he is.” A voice came from the shadows under a nearby tree, and there was a flash of light as a cigarette was lit, “He’s always liked to live a little on the edge.”
“Well will you look what the cat dragged in?” I laughed, “John Loch.”
“The one and only.” The former Crime Lord smiled as he walked over to us, “Hear you’ve been having some fun back home.”
“Some people trying to move in on my manor. Got to show ‘em who’s boss.”
“Times have changed a little from when you could sort this sort of stuff out will a sawn-off. The world went and got itself too complicated for the likes of me.”
“Pull the other one John: you’re still the same man you were the time you gave me a thick ear for shoplifting.”
“You shoplifted?” Sid looked startled.
“Yeah, my misspent youth.” I laughed, “Mr Loch here caught me red-handed the one and only time I ever broke the law. Scared the living daylights out of me.”
“It kept you on the strait and narrow, didn’t it?” Loch smiled, blowing a smoke right, “So what’s going on back home?”
“Same as ever: someone wants to take over the world. Or failing that, just England. Someone over in America has it in to their head that World War 3 is on its way, and the best way to come out on the winning side is to make old Blighty the 51st State of the Union.”
“You going to stand by and let that happen?”
“No, mainly because people will get hurt in the process, but also because I happen to like England the way she has been for the last thousand years: independent and proud of it.”
“Good.” Loch smiled, a strange glint in his eye, “Then we have somewhere to start.”
“You are coming out of retirement?” Sid looked a little surprised.
“My dear, I fully intend to find out who’s behind this hideous assault on Queen and Country, and rip their heart out with my bare hands.” Loch flicked his cigarette away, “So, where’s your ship parked?
To Be Continued…