July 18, 2010 - Happy Harbor, RI
Mt. Justice
11:28:49
“Preeesenting…” M’gann said excitedly as she made jazz hands.
“Ship!” She shouted as she revealed a car sized, kidney bean shaped… thing, sitting on the floor of the Hangar on the Base level of the Cave. She stepped to the side and indicated the object like it was a major prize being offered on a retro gameshow.
“Cool!” Walli said, trying to match her enthusiasm. “Not very aerodynamic, but cool.” She qualified.
M’gann put a hand on her hip and smiled indulgently.
“It’s in rest mode, silly! Here, I’ll wake it.” And she did, waving a hand in a manner not unlike a TV witch. Whatever she did, it worked, as the oblong hulk stretched and flattened, shaping itself into a sleek, alien-looking craft with a triangular hull. Silently, it hovered off the ground and turned around so the base of the triangle faced them, and the bulbous cockpit section opened up, extending a ramp that didn’t open like a door, instead it simply flowed from smooth rounded hull down and into a ramp, leading into the cockpit.
“Come on, I’ll give you a tour and we can take her for a spin!”
Connor startled at the sight of the craft changing shape like a wax candle melting, before solidifying back into its new shape. Judging by M’gann’s reaction, it was meant to do that. So he stepped forward to inspect the craft with the others, who ohh’d and aah’d. The craft was much larger than it had been a moment ago; the car-sized kidney bean ‘rest’ state had more than doubled in size, though he saw the cockpit section at the rear was still around that size.
It must suck all the mass into the central section in rest mode, and spread it out for ‘flight’ mode. Shapeshifting space ship; officially very cool.
M’gann invited them inside for a tour, which didn’t take long. The cockpit section had the ramp leading up to it, a small cargo hold whose front half stepped up into the piloting compartment. There was a 270 degree windshield that let them see out perfectly but was totally opaque from outside. The pilot’s seat was furthest back, a throne-like chair with two orbs on waist high pedestals, positioned for the pilot to hold while seated. As they entered, four chairs flowed up out of the floor and formed comfortable, highbacked seats with armrests. Consoles with oddly organic looking screens grew out of the walls nearest each, apparently giving readouts or controls to each passenger.
“This is most impressive, M’gann.” Kaldura said as she touched and examined each chair and console.
“Thanks! Ship is one of the first of her kind, a bio-ship capable of interplanetary travel, produced on Mars. Until Aunt J’oann was whisked away to Earth, nobody had ever thought that there were other people in the solar system. But when Aunt J’oann and the Justice Guild finally managed to reverse engineer Dr. Erskine’s Zeta-Tubes and send her home again, everything changed on Mars! We knew we weren’t alone, and we started building permanent stations on the surface, and designing craft like Ship here!” M’gann explained as she took the command throne and placed her hands over the smooth glass orbs on the throne arms.
“And I thought the Bat-Plane was cool. It doesn’t change shape. Or fly through space. At least, not that Batwoman has mentioned…” Robin mused as she slipped into one of the seats.
“You keep calling Ship a ‘her’, though.” Walli said. “But on Earth, ships are always boys. It should be a ‘he’!” She declared, finding her own seat.
Both Connor and M’gann turned to stare at her, and she fidgeted under their gaze.
“What are you talking about? Ships are always girls…” Connor trailed off as Walli, Robin and Kaldura stared at him in turn, and went silent.
“...He’s doing the eye twitch thing again.” Robin said out the side of her mouth to the others.
“It’s fine. I’m fine.” Connor replied tersely as he sat, and reached for a seatbelt or harness and found none.
“Well, Ship is a girl…” M’gann said weakly.
“See?” Connor said, smugly.
“No, I mean, she is biologically female.” M’gann explained, which earned her a strange look from all assembled, like she had just told them they had climbed inside the body of a living creature, thinking that it was something inert and safe.
Connor was suddenly and earnestly eyeing the boarding hatch but it had treacherously melted back into the rest of the craft, leaving them no exit. He gripped the armrests hard enough that they began to squeal. Not like metal but like a stepped on cat. Jerking his hands away, he tried to stand, only for a pair of harness belts to emerge from the seat and wrap around his chest in an X pattern, entirely unlike a seatbelt should. Much more in line with being hugged by an octopus. He noted with relief that Robin and Walli were at least disturbed by the harness grabbing them.
Before he, Robin or Walli could freak out, M’gann waved at them, patted her command-throne and reassured them.
“Don’t worry! It’s not like she’s going to eat you, or anything. I told you, she’s a Bio-Ship, its right there in the name. She’s alive, and yes, she’s female.” She said matter of factly, which did not totally reassure Connor, who suddenly imagined the chair sprouting teeth along its edges, and the console being an eyeball looking at him, and the entire cabin being a mouth…
Only Kaldura appeared nonplussed by the revelation that inside a living spaceship. She didn’t even react when the tentacle-harness clipped her in, smiling contentedly at the experience. Connor eyed her suspiciously before tearing his gaze back to M’gann.
“So, uh, just out of curiosity… what does ‘she’ eat?” He asked nervously.
“Oh, she filters phytoplankton from sea water, mostly. I can feed her dried substitutes if she doesn’t have time to filter feed, too. In a pinch, she can eat just about anything. Once a month I take her out in farm country and find a nice cow for her to snack on.” M’gann said, cheerful and oblivious as the other four shared a horrified look and began contemplating their escape.
“...That was a joke.” She added after a moment, after receiving no reaction.
As one, the four of them exhaled a breath, and Walli even chuckled.
“Good one, M’gann.” She said breathlessly.
Awkward silence followed the joke landing flat, and trying to rescue the mood, M’gann made a suggestion.
“Come on, let me show you what she can do! Open communications to Cave Control, Ship. Black Canary, this is Bio-Ship, requesting departure from the Hangar.” M’gann said confidently. For a moment, Connor wasn’t sure she was actually speaking on the radio… or whatever Ship was using. But then they received their reply.
“Bio-Ship, this is Cave Control, your request is authorized. You kids have fun and don’t get into too much trouble.” Came Black Canary’s voice came from all around them, and everyone but M’gann looked about for speakers.
“Acknowledged, Cave Control!” M’gann said chipperly, and before them the ramp down into the waters of Happy Harbor’s bay appeared, as a massive sliding door opened the concealed entrance to the Hangar, right at water level. Ship flew through the short passage, emerging at sea level from the base of the cliffs, and then raced along the midday waves, spray washing over the cockpit canopy. They moved fast, but they felt no acceleration, which gave them a giddy feeling.
“What else can she do?” Robin asked eagerly, finally impressed that someone had a more wonderful toy than her boss.
“A little bit of this!” M’gann shouted as she accelerated and pulled up the nose, flying straight up, which was even more disconcerting because none of them felt the shift in gravity or acceleration. They still whooped in excitement as she sent them into a spiraling ascent high up into the sky and through the cloud cover. After a moment, they broke through and saw the fluffy white clouds beneath them and the glorious blue sky all around, with the warm summer sun beaming down.
That’s beautiful…
Is that what Superwoman sees everyday?
The thought brought him a little melancholy after their ‘chat’ the previous week. But he focused on the wondrous flight Ship made possible. That was easy as M’gann took them into another banking dive back through the clouds, and after a brief moment of seeing only misty cloud stuff around them, they were out and back beneath the cloud layer and zooming off towards Happy Harbor. The town was only a few thousand residents, but it looked like a postage stamp on the coast from up here. Ship continued to dive toward the town, and Connor grew concerned, remembering the disdain the local police had regarded him with after learning why he was in their town.
“Uh, M’gann? Maybe we shouldn’t buzz the town in your alien bio-ship…” he began, but then a ripple came over the exterior of Ship, and a strange and indistinct shimmer spread across it. Looking out the cockpit, he couldn’t clearly see the nose of the craft anymore, only an indistinct blur.
“Not a problem. Check out camouflage mode!” She stated proudly. Ship wasn’t invisible, but had the look of optical camouflage from media Connor was familiar with; each side of her was displaying what was on the other side, like she was made of glass. There was a slightly off visual aspect to it, but unless you looked closely, you would miss Ship entirely.
And flying overhead at a decent altitude, nobody is likely to notice us.
“That is truly amazing, M’gann. Does Ship share all of your Martian abilities?” Kaldura asked.
“Not all of them, but like my organic clothing, she can do most of the shapeshifting things I can do, except density shifting. She doesn’t have the full range of shapeshifting, and can only manage a few preset forms. She’s also telepathic, enough that I can pilot her remotely with it, but its difficult.” M’gann said, and her tongue stuck out the corner of her mouth as she said it, clearly thinking about how hard the task was.
Damn, she’s cute when she does that. He thought, and his cheeks warmed a bit before he tore his gaze away. Thankfully, no one had noticed.
Why am I worried anyone will notice? Connor thought as he glanced at Walli, but she was occupied pointing out landmarks in Happy Harbor she already recognized. She had been busy most of the week, attending orientation at Stanford University before starting there in the fall. So she hadn’t been at the Cave much, so they hadn’t spent any more ‘bed time’ together. Connor already missed it, and worried slightly that it meant their ‘benefits-ship’ was cooling. She had been pretty insistent things were casual between them when M’gann had inadvertently discovered it.
But so was I. Am I worried Walli will get jealous? Do I want Walli to be jealous?
Upon reflection; no, he did not.
I’ve had a new life in a new universe for less than two weeks, its a bit early to get a girlfriend. But we were definitely having fun at her house…
Which led him back to her sudden distance, or business? He couldn’t decide which he thought it was. She was busy, and he wasn’t. That was probably it; Walli had stuff going on in her life that didn’t involve him, and he was still trying to find his footing in a new universe and life. That hurt a bit, but it was also to be expected. She had spent the first three days with him day and night, having him stay at her house. Walli probably wanted a break from him, and he was being clingy. Yeah, that was it…
“Cave Control to Bio-Ship, come in.” Black Canary’s voice came suddenly from everywhere, startling the little crew of the good Ship.
“Bio-Ship to Cave Control, I read you. What is it, Black Canary?” M’gann answered worriedly.
“We just received a distress call from Happy Harbor PD, there’s some kind of situation going on at the town power plant. They weren’t sure what was going on, it was very confused, but they called for backup and you’re it. Check it out, but covertly. We’re trying to keep a low profile in the area. Sending you coordinates now.” Black Canary replied decisively, not barking orders but laying them out with the cool confidence of someone practiced at authority.
“Acknowledged, Cave Control. Bio-Ship, heading out.” M’gann replied calmly, her earlier levity forgotten as she locked in and took command of Ship, banking towards the coordinates.
“I would ask what additional intel we have on the situation, but Black Canary would have already given it if she had it.” Kaldura said grimly, swiveling her chair to the console and poking at the touch interface.
Connor looked at his own and it resolved into English characters with a strange user interface, but he was able to poke a few buttons and scroll through menus of options. It was laborious and unrewarding. Robin had already figured it out and was busy plugging a cable from her even more advanced than his Eye-Phone into the console, and it sank in like she had stabbed the little jack into flesh, but a hole instantly opened below it and accepted its input seamlessly. Then she began frantically typing at the holographic interface her phone projected, much like she had done from her gauntlets at the Project.
Damn, I don’t think my phone can do that. Batwoman is holding out on us.
“I’m accessing local CCTV, but I’m not getting a lot.” Robin said as she flicked screens around, and they appeared on the Bio-Ship’s console for them all to look at. The power plant was a broad, squat concrete building with a broad expanse of parking lot to accommodate its workers. It was on the edge of town and overlooked the sea and several coastal windmills that helped supplement the on site gas turbine generator. The clouds were growing dark and stormy over the plant, and the wind was picking up. People, plant workers presumably, were streaming out of the building and towards the parking lot. They moved like a shoal of fish, all turning and moving as one while trying to escape the situation.
Not being any help with digital surveillance, Connor decided to rely on what he was good at, like supervision. He focused on the small property around his house and the crime scene, sweeping it with telescopic vision. Once more, when he focused he could see blooms of heat around people, and saw none inside the building.
“The plant is clear.” He offered.
“Everyone is running for the hills…” Robin said.
“But I don’t see what they’re running from.”
Connor looked up from the plant he had been scanning again, when something else appeared.
“Uh, guys? I think I know what the disturbance is…” Connor said as he pointed numbly out the starboard window.
Everyone turned to follow his finger, and saw the angry black twister descending from the sky to touch down, just outside of the perimeter.
“Uhhh, Connor? You’re from New England, or A New England, right?” Walli asked, gulping nervously.
“Yeah…” He breathed, unable to tear his gaze away from the spiraling column of wind and debris tearing through the parking lot, cars being picked up and tossed like confetti.
“New England doesn’t normally get tornadoes, right?” She asked, looking at him with false hope.
“No, no it doesn’t.” He stated flatly.
“Well, then someone better have some secret holdout superweapon because that tornado just changed course right for us!” Walli shouted.