Halosydne
(5 September, San Diego 8:15 PST)
"Lorena!" a voice called from the first floor the Marquez home. Lorena was busy in the bathroom getting ready for work. While most of her friends were working at the In & Out or Jack in the Box, she was able to get a job at the San Diego Zoo. Her father Dr. Gustavo Marquez was friends with a few members of Mayor Durham's council and arranged for Lorena to work with renowned Marine Biologist Dr. Pontus Mercer. Working with Dr. Mercer could open doors for her when she applied to college. "Lorena! Your breakfast is getting cold!" "I'll be down in a minute mom!" Lorena answered as she fixed her hair, adjusting her necklace into place. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted in the air as Lorena walked downstairs to the kitchen. Her father was sipping coffee and reading the newspaper, her mother placed Lorena's plate on the table, than handed her the carton of orange juice. While her father was a professor at U.C. San Diego, Mrs. Magdalena Marquez ran an art gallery in downtown San Diego.
"Lorena," said Dr. Marquez "Your mother and I will be leaving for Santa Rosa. We'll be gone until Monday. So be sure to lock all the doors and windows, check the emergency numbers and if all else fails call your brother…"
"Rafael in Anaheim, he'll know what to do. Dad you've been telling me this stuff since you and mom planned this little vacation for yourselves in March. I'll be fine." Lorena reassured.
"We just want to be sure that you will be okay Lola." Her mother added. She kissed her daughter on the forehead as she finished her breakfast. "Now you should leave for work before you miss the trolley to the zoo." Lorena kissed her parents goodbye and grabbed her messenger bag as she headed to the zoo.
(4 September, Mount Justice, 9:00 EDT)
Wally yawned as he sauntered into the briefing room with his favorite coffee drink in hand; Kaldur, M'gann, Artemis and Superboy stood patiently before Batman and Martian Manhunter. Once Wally joined them in the line up their mentors began to speak. The main screen had a large map of the area around the city of San Diego. "Are we looking at vacation destinations?" Wally japed. "I could go for a surfing trip to one of the Hawaiian Islands."Batman shot him a scowling look as he began to speak,
"There have been disturbances on the Southern West Coast. Recently the Ocean Research Center of America's undersea base in the last few months has been monitoring sea life. The scientists have trying to research and excavate a nearly extinct species of fish roughly fifteen miles away from San Diego's coast. ORCA has noticed recently a major rise in piracy and sabotage into that area."
"What is so precious about this area?" M'gann said quizzically. Batman touched the hologram monitor, now displaying an ancient map of the area. "The scientists were able to uncover this map, which seems to be a lead to,"
"The temple of Salacia…" Kaldur'ahm said in amazement. His comrades and mentors looked at him mystified.
"You've heard of this place Kaldur?" Superboy asked. Kaldur nodded in agreement.
"Salacia or Amphitrite as she was more commonly known as was the beloved wife of Poseidon. Poseidon persuaded her to come back and share his throne. Amphitrite agreed to marry him; the god of the deep sea was so overjoyed at these good tidings that he crafted a trident for her that rivaled his own. As time went on Amphitrite then feared the trident getting in the wrong hands. Amphitrite built a temple to house the trident. She placed it there and hid the temple from the rest of the world. We Atlanteans always believed that the Trident of Salacia had been lost forever."
Red Tornado interjected with information it wanted to present, "We have connected the pirates to technologies being developed by Dr. Mercer and then there was Dr. Geist. These men are on staff at the San Diego Zoo. They also were partners on undetermined projects for Cadmus. They were fired for rather 'unethical' experiments, and from Cadmus that says something. We think the project the doctors were working on for them is still being worked on."
J'onn stepped closer to the team. "Your mission will be to canvas the zoo and its workers, see what you can find out about the doctors, see, what undercover projects, if any they are conducting and their connection with the pirates." Right after Martian Manhunter finished speaking; Wally raced into his room and grabbed his backpack and headed to the bio-ship.
"I call shotgun!"
(5 September, San Diego 11:15 PST)
Lorena brought over Dr. Mercer's thermos of tea as he prepared his presentation. Today one of the head investors was to see the progresses that the doctors were making. There were two main scientists at the facility; there was Lorena's mentor Dr. Mercer and then there was Dr. Anton Geist. Doctor Mercer, who in his late forties was a staple at the San Diego Zoo, always had a warm smile and a kind word to everyone he met. '
But Doctor Geist was much less pleasant person to be around. Whenever one of his assistants weren't around he would bark orders at Lorena. To keep things diplomatic, she would appease his demands. Its men like him who gave science a bad name. Lorena often thought to herself. She was hoping Mercer and Geist would receive more money, so they could further research humans being able to sustain extended periods of time underwater.
"Good luck today professor." Lorena encouraged. Mercer took a sip of his tea and winked at Lorena, he had a good feeling about today as well. The laboratory door slammed open, it was Dr. Geist's aide Daniel Pike. Pike put the "ass" in "assistant." For some reason he had a chip on his shoulder and wanted everyone to worship the ground he walked in. He had cold, calculating dark eyes. He kept his dark brown hair spiked up and always with a smug look on that rough face of his.
"Hey Lolita, you sure look good today. How about during lunch you and I could back to my place and I could show you how good my Spanish is?" Pike said smugly. Lorena smiled sweetly at Pike.
"How about we go broom closet and I slap you around for a while?" Lorena retorted.
"Can't we do both?" their badinage was interrupted by the doctors coming into the building.
Dr. Geist came into the room, wearing his best clothes for the special occasion; behind him was Thelxiepeia Aglaopheme. She was the widow of a Greek industrialist and was looking to diversify her investments. She had flowing purple red hair and wore a red sleeved cocktail dress with matching red pumps. Thelxiepeia was given a seat to listen to the presentation. In Geist's part of the presentation, he discussed the need for humans to stay under water for longer periods of time. Mercer later elaborated, showing them the prototype body suits.
"In the coldest Arctic Waters the wearer will feel like they are spending a warm day on the beach. Using this technology can further oceanic exploration. Thank you." She clapped and smiled at the biologists. Thelxiepeia came towards the four of them. Lorena always envied Thelxiepeia's beautiful, expensive wardrobe. A Marine Biologist's salary could not ensure she'd be able to afford Jimmy Choos. Dr. Mercer was a total gentleman, but Lorena could feel Pike and Dr. Geist eye humping her.
"Ms. Thelxiepeia Aglaopheme, it is always a pleasure." She extended her hand to Geist for him to shake, but instead he kissed it. Geist was as smooth as a ninety year old behind. Thelxiepeia ran her fingers through her hair.
"Gentlemen, I am very intrigued with you two about furthering your research. I'd like to speak to you both," Thelxiepeia looked over at Lorena and Pike. "I'd like to speak to you both alone." Geist and Mercer excused their assistants and closed the lab doors as they left. Lorena went to the main floor of the aquarium, so start giving tours for the day.
Kaldur, Wally, M'gann, Artemis and Superboy walked into the aquarium in their civilian clothes. M'gann finally perfected a human looking skin tone. She chose to model the color of her skin after Wally and Artemis, though she was too humble to tell them so.
"I can't wait to see the fishes!" M'gann exclaimed, more and more she was fascinated with animals from Earth. "I was watching a series on manners. The woman said that everyone like a nice, hardy handshake. It shows you are very happy to see them. Wally smirked,
"Hey M'gann, you know what you can do with boys to show them you're really happy to see them?" Artemis jabbed him in the ribs.
"Wallly, keep your mind on the mission and not on your little libido." Wally scoffed.
"My libido is not small, maybe I could show you sometime." Artemis jeered
"Will you be providing the magnifying glass too?" Kaldur both shot dirty looks at them, saying to be quiet and stay focused.
Kaldur was in no rush to visit any of the zoo or the aquarium. He hated the ideas of zoos. The idea of keeping animals in gilded cages and away from the natural habitats was awful. "If I speak to any animals and they complain about living there, I'm going to help them escape. They don't deserve this kind of treatment." Kaldur explained. Wally rolled his eyes, "
You might want to hold off on building those escape routes Free Willy. We're supposed to be incognito." Artemis gave Wally a hard nudge in his ribs. She hated when got so glib.
"I have an idea, how about we all just focus on the mission and finding out as much as possible about the biologists and not so snarky to one another." Artemis suggested.
Superboy stared at the fishes in the giant tank with wide eyed amazement. Fish always fascinated him; swimming was like flying to Superboy. From the corner of his eye he saw M'gann staring at him. She always looked at him with a dreamy look in her eyes. Girls always perplexed him, most of his teammates had previous experience with women, but Superboy was rather daunted by them. Even Artemis, who was rather rough around the edges, was hard to speak to about things that didn't pertain to their immediate dangers.
Lorena fixed the foundation she had put on her face, she always wanted to look good for the zoo goers. As she entered into the main hall of the Aquarium, she noticed a very handsome young man. His skin was smooth and was the color of milk chocolate. The young man's hair was blond and cut low, and his eyes reminded Lorena of sea water after a summer storm. She took a deep breath, happy that there was at least one cute guy to look at during the tour.
Lorena discussed in detail all of the endangered fish species they house. She went over how the Shortnose Sturgeon, Angel Shark, Mekong Freshwater Stingray and Catfish, Silver Chub, Pugnose Shiner, Round Whitefish, Bluebreast Darter, Spoonhead Sculpin, and Deepwater Sculpin are all being studied and trying to multiple their numbers. The turtle room where visitors could see the Mud Turtle, Bog Turtle, Atlantic Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Atlantic Ridley Sea Turtle and Leatherback Sea Turtle coming back from the brink of extinction.
Finally, Lorena and her group went to her favorite section of the tour, which coincidently ended the tour too, the dolphin tank. The six dolphins had all been saved from poachers. Lorena's favorite was little Nona. Lorena always envied the dolphin trainers, since her childhood she liked coming to see the dolphins play and do tricks. Her favorite dolphin was Zoey. Zoey had been saved by a tuna net and given sanctuary. If ever Lorena felt sad, she would visit Zoey to lift her spirits. Zoey saw that Lorena was coming closer, it rolled over on its back, Lorena gently rub Zoey's stomach.
"So beautiful." A voice commented behind her. Lorena looked behind her to see who was speaking; it was the Black guy from the tour.
"Excuse me?" Lorena asked. It was always her luck to meet handsome men when she wasn't dressed nice
"The dolphin," he clarified. "Isn't she a Pacific white-sided dolphin?" Lorena was impressed by his knowledge.
"Her name is Zoey, and she's always fun to be around." Lorena smiled at the strapping young man. "I'm Lorena. Did you enjoy the tour?"
"I'm Kaldur," he helped Lorena up from the edge of the dolphin tank. Kaldur that is an interesting name, Lorena wondered where he was from. "This is quite a facility. I thought that most places like this the animals would be depressed."
"The Zoo strives to keep animals happy and healthy." Say something else to talk just the zoo. "So, do you live in San Diego?"
"My friends and I are just visiting the city a few days."
"Your friends?" Lorena asked. Just then a red haired guy walked over to introduce himself.
"What's up chica?" Wally asked her, "Sos mas linda que las estrellas en el cielo." Lorena always thought it was interesting that boys thought she would be impressed if they knew how to speak Spanish.
"Que comienza en particular qué te refieres?" Lorena asked him. Wally had a puzzled look on his face. "¿Usted no entiende lo que estoy diciendo, verdad?" Wally still seemed clueless. "Let's us both stick to English for now. I'm Lorena, I was just speaking to Kaldur about the aquarium." What looked like Wally and Kaldur's other friends walked over to Lorena. A red haired girl was the first of the three to greet her.
"Hi, I'm Megan!" M'gann shook her hand enthusiastically. She needs to switch to decaffe. Her blonde friend was the next to introduce herself to Lorena.
"I'm Artemis." Their brunette friend remained stoic during the pleasantries.
"What's with the strong and silent type?" Lorena joked. "Estoico, it's nice to meet you."
"…Same here." Superboy said.
"Did you guys enjoy the zoo?" Lorena.
"We liked pretty much everything. Well, except for the monkeys." Wally replied as he nudged Superboy.
"Why didn't you like the monkeys?" Lorena inquired. Doctor Ivo had soured any hope of Superboy liking any primates.
"It's a long story." Superboy confided.
"We actually wanted to speak to Dr. Mercer," Artemis said. "We're doing a project on Marine Biology and wanted his expertise. Artemis knew how to get this started in an investigation.
"Actually I'm his assistant." Lorena told them. "It's great that he's getting the recognition he deserves. If you'd like I could take you to his lab and you can meet him." The five of them nodded their heads excitedly. As they walked through the zoo compound, Kaldur walked right next to Lorena. He was fascinated at her love of the sea, and her knowledge of the animals that inhabit it. Lorena spoke to Kaldur about her childhood going to beach as often as she could, collection seashells, sea glass, and starfish. Her best memories were from the beaches of San Diego. "That's where I found this." She showed Kaldur her necklace, he was taken aback.
"May I hold it?" Kaldur asked. Lorena smiled at him. She handed him the necklace. Kaldur was amazed. He thought the designs and jewels on necklace looked Atlantean. The triangular amulet had small writing around its edges that looked like words from the Atlantean alphabet. He felt energy emitting from the talisman. This was more than some trinket. "You like it? Since I found it, I've been without it." Just as they reached the main door to the laboratory, they group heard a loud argument. Lorena unlocked the utility closet and quietly led them it, so they could hide in there until the argument was over.
Thelxiepeia stormed out of Mercer's lab. "You don't want to continue in what Geist and I are striving for then that's fine. But if you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem." Thelxiepeia went to the hallway when she heard a noise from the closet. She swung the door open and found Lorena.
"What are you doing?" Thelxiepeia asked. "Shouldn't you be in the main zoo making minimum wage?" Lorena looked around her, and her new friends had disappeared.
I am sorry everyone. M'gann said telepathically to the team. When she opened the door I panicked, Lorena did hold anyone's hands so she stayed visible.
"You know Dr. Mercer, he likes a tidy closet." Lorena said, hoping Thelxiepeia would buy that excuse. "He asked me to organize this space so he could store more supplies in it." They then heard a shriek coming from Mercer's office.
"Go see what the matter is, I'll phone for help!" Thelxiepeia commanded. Lorena saw Dr. Mercer knocked out on the floor of his lab, as if he was in a catatonic state.
"Dr. Mercer!" Lorena cried over his body, trying to revive him. "Dr. Mercer!"