True Dark Read online

  It was kind of weird. She was an attractive woman and while he was not an unattractive man, she was seriously out of his league. Despite this, his sex life had never been quite so regular. They banged almost every night, and Billy was a fairly shallow individual so meaningless sex was right up his alley. Midnight’s idea of good fucking tended to leave bruises, however. It was always on her terms and her terms could be brutal. Midnight had given him orgasms so intense that he had begun to wonder what he had been doing wrong all his life, but she had almost killed him twice one way or another. He wanted her more than any other woman he had ever met, yet he dreaded the moment of her return.

  Which was now. Midnight stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the room. A wave of relief swept over Billy as he realised she was happy. ‘That went well,’ she said, crouching beside him to untie his gag. ‘I think we’ll be moving out of this hovel soon, Billy. I’ll probably have to kill a few more of them, but we’ll be taking residence somewhere more to my liking quite soon enough.’

  Billy said nothing in reply. She was taking him with her when she moved out. That was a blessing and a curse. And he really could not understand why she was keeping him around.

  She straightened up without untying him. ‘However, I think it’s time I got myself some weapons. I’m going to need a swordsmith, Billy-boy. Where do you think I’d find one of those?’

  New Millennium City, MD, 14th June.

  ‘Twenty-seven years,’ June said, her eyes on the wall screen. It was showing a documentary she had seen before about the destruction of New York City. Penny had seen it too, but she made a point of watching one of the many shows on the subject every time there was an anniversary.

  ‘And no one else knows it was all Slapstick’s fault,’ Penny said.

  ‘Yeah… Do you think we should’ve told anyone?’

  ‘I’m not sure there’s much point. Anyway, we only have his word for it and no details of how he got Magmatic to do it.’

  ‘True. You know, it’s kind of crazy. That city was the greatest in America. It was sunk under a lake of lava before either of us was born. We’ve never lived in an America where New York existed. You come from that way. Have you ever been there?’

  ‘Sort of. School trip to the museum in Newark when I was a kid. You can see the lava field from a viewing platform on the roof. The whole area is considered a mass grave, so they don’t let people wander about on it. And it’s also not entirely stable.’

  ‘It could erupt again?’

  ‘They get minor quakes and it could theoretically erupt again. I think they’ve had a few small uprisings of lava since the big one. Basically, Magmatic cut a channel down through the crust to make a volcano where there should be no volcano. It’s a bit like Hawaii. It’s a volcano right in the middle of a tectonic plate. That kind of thing doesn’t normally happen, but now it’s there, shutting it off isn’t that easy.’

  ‘Oh. Well. That’s nice to know.’

  Penny grinned. ‘We’re far enough away that it shouldn’t be a problem. There’s nothing in New York to worry us.’

  Ruins of New York, NY.

  Twenty-seven years after Manhattan had been turned into an expanse of lava, it was all still a vast expanse of black volcanic rock. Nothing but the most tenacious plants could get much of a foothold. Eventually, life would return to the place, but for now it was an alien landscape, cracked and distorted. It was a rocky tomb to tens of thousands of people who had not managed to escape before the Central Park volcano had erupted.

  Tonight, the skies were clear. A vent had opened ten days earlier in the general area known as The Lake Up Thrust. It was not entirely uncommon, but this one was producing more ash than usual and overflights had been banned until it calmed down. People took helicopter flights over the lava fields when it was allowed, but not today, and at night there was nothing much to see anyway.

  That meant there was no one around to see a bulge develop in the solidified lava a few hundred feet from the vent. The bulge grew in jerks, as though some massive fist was pounding up from below, until it cracked open and a man crawled out of the hole. His fists were not exceptionally large, but they were powerful. He was naked and dirty, with hair down to his waist and his beard almost as long. He looked like a mad old man until you noticed that there was a relatively young face hidden under all the hair and his body was six-foot-two of solid muscle.

  He let out a wild, gleeful laugh at the sight of the night sky above him. Then, turning toward the west, he lifted into the air and accelerated upward.

  New Millennium City, MD, 15th June.

  June spotted the low kick Cygnus was aiming at her shin and slipped her leg back to avoid it. Unfortunately, that meant she entirely failed to spot the punch coming in at her ribs until it was too late. She tried to get an arm in the way, but Cygnus’s fist slipped past and landed a light tap just under June’s right breast.

  ‘Damn it!’ June snapped. ‘Every time! The kick was a feint, right?’

  ‘I used to fall for it every time too,’ Cygnus pointed out. ‘And then I didn’t. So much. Andrea… Well, she’s still better than me.’

  June sighed. ‘You’re right. I know you’re right. Again.’

  They took their ready stances and this time June pushed forward on the offensive. She went for a grapple because, while Cygnus was stronger and a hold would never stick, June was still better at wrestling than punching. Plus, June had far more strength to work with than before and was still getting used to it. Grabbing Cygnus around the waist despite her attempts to slip free, June grinned and heaved. Cygnus let out a squeak as she was dumped unceremoniously onto the mat. There followed ten seconds or so of frantic thrashing around until June managed to force a pin. It was not easy, but she managed it.

  ‘Got you,’ June said, grinning. She was now lying on Cygnus, trapping her arms between them and straddling her hips. They were more or less nose-to-nose.

  ‘It’s a little early in the session for this to turn into sex,’ Cygnus said, grinning back.

  ‘Yeah,’ June said on a sigh, ‘but I did get you.’

  ‘You did.’

  ‘Hurray!’ June planted a kiss on Cygnus’s nose and then rolled off her before applying a little flight thrust to regain her feet.

  Cygnus lifted into the air too. ‘Think fast!’ she called out, and June turned to see a foot coming at her face. Letting out a squeak of protest, June threw her arms up to ward off the blow and…

  ‘That’s new,’ Cygnus said as she lowered her leg from where it had been stopped by a shield of shimmering, bluish light. June just let out another squeak, her eyes wide. ‘Just hold that there.’ And then Cygnus pulled back her fist and drove it into the shield, stopping dead against the cloudy energy formation. ‘That should stop small arms fire. You’ve got a magic shield, love.’

  June lowered her arms and the shield vanished. ‘That was… weird. I wonder why it hasn’t shown up before.’

  ‘I surprised you and you reacted. Or some other reason. This is Ultrahuman powers we’re talking about. They aren’t exactly well understood.’

  ‘That’s a valid point. Frustrating, but valid. Okay, if I’ve got this shield, you can pull your punches less.’

  Cygnus frowned. ‘June…’

  ‘Come on. I need to get used to this. I can take it.’

  ~~~

  ‘Oh, God, that’s better.’ June let the hot water from the multiple shower heads hammer at her sweaty, bruised body.

  ‘I am not doing that again,’ Penny said from outside the shower. ‘You look like you did ten rounds with a heavyweight boxer.’

  ‘But we learned that the shield only works on attacks coming at me from the front, and that I can take a fair bit of punishment anyway.’

  ‘Yes, but–’

  ‘I’m not arguing. We can go back to pulled punches. My hips ache.’ Reaching back, June planted her hands on the back of her hips. ‘My kidneys might be a little bruised. I could definitely do without– Oh!�
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  Penny yanked the shower door open to find an apparently unharmed June standing there looking startled. Actually, a remarkably unharmed June. Signs of purple bruises had been showing up in various places on June’s back. Now her skin was as unmarked as usual. ‘You can heal yourself,’ Penny said, not sounding especially shocked about it.

  ‘It could just be tissue–’

  ‘No, tissue regeneration is more of a “bit at a time” process. You just healed all your bruises in one go. It’s a conscious use of power rather than a passive biological process. You may be able to heal other people too.’

  June shook her head and picked up a bottle of shampoo. ‘So, I can fly through space, lift heavy objects, punch like a train, project a force shield, and heal myself and maybe others. I don’t get it. Ultrahumans usually have a theme, right? What’s mine? I really can’t see the pattern.’

  ‘Neither can I,’ Penny admitted. ‘Then again, there haven’t really been Ultras like you before who just, well, randomly manifested powers. I’m not entirely surprised that your power set seems a bit weird.’

  ‘Yeah.’ June looked out at her girlfriend and grinned. ‘I’m not bruised now. Come on in and wash my back.’

  Smirking, Penny began untying her robe. ‘The things I do for love…’

  18th June.

  There was a grainy picture up on the wall screen behind the reporter who was presenting it. The picture was, basically, a few pixels blown up to show a humanoid shape, but that was about it. The figure was flying and that was about the best you could say about it.

  ‘Rumours of the return of Captain Freedom have been popping up on a number of internet chat rooms overnight,’ the reporter said.

  ‘Yeah,’ Penny commented. ‘They do. Not infrequently.’

  ‘Commenters say that the figure shown in this picture is the national hero lost twenty-seven years ago when Magmatic destroyed New York. The picture, taken on a smartphone camera and of poor quality, has been verified to have been taken on the morning of the sixteenth of June about two miles from Andrews Air Force Base. Andrews has become the de facto home of the US government since the nuclear attack on the White House in May.’

  ‘Well, that doesn’t prove anything,’ June said. ‘That could be just about any flying hero. Or any large bird for that matter.’

  ‘Captain Freedom did have an apartment at Andrews,’ Penny mused.

  ‘There has been no official comment on the rumours,’ the presenter continued. ‘Internet theorists are, of course, taking that as confirmation.’

  ‘They would,’ June said. ‘Have you anything planned for today?’

  ‘Not really,’ Penny replied. ‘I’ll go over the data Jacob brought over from the Court last night, but… You’ve got a meeting with Maurice, right?’

  June’s nose wrinkled. ‘Late lunch meeting, yes. That’ll be about as much fun as a root canal.’

  ‘The perils of being a top model, love.’

  ‘Yeah, thanks.’ June turned an earnest expression on Penny. ‘If I strangle him with his tie, you will bail me out, won’t you?’

  ‘I’ll think about it…’

  ~~~

  June felt her jaw tighten as she walked into Accorso’s. The fact that Maurice had set up the meeting there was bad enough. The last time she had been there, Slapstick had interrupted. There was no chance of that now and June found herself strangely sorry about that. Maurice, it seemed, had absolutely no idea of what June might be feeling or wanting. The restaurant was one thing, and another meeting with Avira Nessing was another.

  Maurice was a middle-aged man with thinning brown hair, green eyes, a hawkish nose, and a bit of a paunch though he kept himself in moderate shape. For the first time since meeting him, however, June had the odd sense that she was seeing the way his mind really worked. Maurice was a greedy man, self-centred. Not that that was exactly a stretch. Nessing was different. Younger by several years, smartly dressed with a tendency toward designer suits. Attractive, certainly, but somewhat aloof. She was not a greedy woman, but she knew what she wanted and went for it by any means necessary. What she wanted right now was for June to represent the makeup company her ad agency was working for.

  ‘June,’ Maurice said, giving her his brightest smile. ‘Avira and I were just discussing some details. Campaign details, you know?’

  June smiled back, aware that it was not touching her eyes. ‘I haven’t agreed to do the campaign at all yet, Maurice. Details seem a little premature.’ Nessing’s eyes cooled as June turned to her. ‘Mrs Nessing, a pleasure to meet you again. Let’s hope we won’t be interrupted by a madman with a bomb this time.’

  ‘Let’s hope so,’ Nessing said. ‘I understand that Slapstick didn’t survive that encounter.’

  June sat down beside Maurice and opposite Nessing. ‘He set off one of his gas canisters. We assume he hoped to escape while Cygnus was flying me out, but he had some form of allergic reaction to his gas.’

  ‘He’s not exactly a great loss to the world and the publicity was quite extensive.’

  ‘All publicity is good publicity,’ Maurice said, grinning.

  ‘Not the kind Cygnus likes,’ June said. ‘She prefers taking them in alive.’

  ‘It’s not the kind we need either,’ Nessing said.

  June kept the frown off her face. There was that comment suggesting an attitude she did not like, but there was something else as well. Something was nudging at her mind, tickling. Just a feeling, but… ‘I believe,’ June said, ‘we were discussing my discontinuing the charity calendars I’ve been doing before we were interrupted. I’m afraid that’s not an option. I have obligations to–’

  ‘It’s just a voluntary thing,’ Maurice said. ‘You can get out of it any time you want. And this could be a big step in your career, June.’

  June turned, opening her mouth to argue. She stopped as the tickle in her mind flashed into a clear impression. Guilt. Maurice was feeling just a little bit of guilt over a decision he had made. As she looked at him, the whole thing seemed to open up in front of June: Maurice had already agreed to the deal with Nessing and had received a very handsome bribe to get June to sign. He knew that the deal was not what June wanted and that it would not really do anything for her career, but there was all that money…

  ‘Maurice,’ June said, ‘you’re fired.’

  ‘What?! Why?’

  ‘You know damn well why. I hope you haven’t spent Mrs Nessing’s money yet. Mrs Nessing, you should find someone else to shill for your client. Someone with your morals would probably work out better anyway.’ June got to her feet.

  ‘I’ll see you blacklisted with every agency in the country,’ Nessing hissed.

  ‘Do your worst. Brightstar is wearing gowns I designed. Viviane is switching to one of my costume designs. And that calendar you hate is on half the walls in America. I wonder what would happen if I told people that your company demanded that I stop doing them. I’m sure Marta Hendry would be happy to run that story when the next one comes out.’ Turning, June marched out of the restaurant, her hips swinging more with each step.

  ~~~

  ‘It was like I could see his guilt,’ June said, pacing in front of the TV. ‘When I concentrated on it, I could see what was causing it.’

  ‘Okay,’ Penny said, watching June pace. ‘So, two things. At least he was feeling guilty about screwing you over.’

  ‘Ha! What was the second thing?’

  ‘You can sense guilt and uncover the reason for it. That’s… an interesting ability.’

  ‘Sure is. I’m not exactly comfortable with it. Do you have any idea how much guilt there is in the world? One of the waiters I passed on the way out of the restaurant skims money from the till. The taxi driver on the way home is having an affair with his next-door neighbour.’

  ‘Yeah. It’s going to make it really hard to keep my numerous affairs secret.’

  June stopped mid-stride and stared at her. ‘Affairs? You–’ Then she burst out laughin
g.

  Penny suppressed a smirk. ‘That’s better, though I don’t think you should be laughing quite so hard at the idea of me having affairs.’

  ‘Cygnus could get anyone she wanted into bed,’ June pointed out after a few more seconds of laughter. ‘Almost anyone. I can’t sense any guilt at all from you. That’s impressive.’

  ‘Might make you quite a useful detective. Of course, it wouldn’t be admissible in court, but it might point you at evidence we could use.’

  June nodded. She had thought as much on the way home. ‘I’m really going to do this, aren’t I? I’m really going to design a costume for myself and do what you do.’

  ‘You said you didn’t think you could do it. That was a while ago, but you said you didn’t have it in you.’

  Walking over to the sofa, June sat down and took Penny’s hands in hers. ‘And now I’ve got these powers, I don’t think I can not do it, Pen.’

  Penny smiled. ‘I’ll try not to feel guilty about saying I told you so.’

  ~~~

  ‘Astraea,’ June said, looking up from her laptop.

  ‘Beg pardon?’ Penny asked.

  ‘Astraea. She’s out of Greek myth. She was associated with Dike, the goddess of justice, and she rose to become the constellation of Virgo after she grew tired of the way humans were behaving after the Greek Golden Age. Astraea means “star maiden.”’

  ‘Virgo is next to Libra in the sky,’ Penny said. ‘I don’t think you qualify as a maiden, however.’

  ‘Ha! No, but I looked up Cygnus and all the associations there are with men and you’re not one. Anyway, the powers kind of fit with what we’ve seen so far. Kind of. And I checked and the name’s not in use by anyone.’

  ‘It’s not a bad name. I don’t get it though. This is the first time you’ve ever heard of Astraea?’

  ‘I put “constellation” and “justice” into the search engine. Libra and Virgo come up, so does Astraea.’

  ‘Which means you’ve found a concept that fits your powers rather than a concept resulting in the way your powers express. It’s not supposed to work like that. I mean, even my initial powers were defined by what I thought I should have. I learned to change them later, but when they first came out, they were fixed by a concept.’