Lena looked up from her desk in annoyance as the door to her office opened, but the annoyance vanished as she saw Sam, replaced immediately by a smile.
"Hey," Lena said.
"Any idea what the Secret Service detail is for?" Sam asked as she walked across the office to sit down in one of the chairs across from Lena.
"I think they're actually US Marshalls," Lena said. "I can't get any kind of clear answer, other than that the President ordered the protection detail personally."
"That doesn't sound good," Sam said.
"No, it doesn't," Lena agreed. "It's nice to see a friendly face, though."
Sam sighed. "I kind of hate that you said that when I'm here with bad news."
"More?" Lena asked, her eyebrows shooting up towards her hairline. "This should be thrilling."
"Someone bought LuthorCorp out from under us," Sam said.
"What?" Lena asked. "Who?"
"I don't know, exactly," Sam said. "The SEC filing for the notice of intent went through at about 11:15 AM Eastern this morning. By 11:45, Danvers International held fifty-three percent of the voting stock. I haven't had time to do a forensic analysis of the stock transactions, but we've known for a while that something funny was happening with the purchase patterns. My guess is, they've been buying through subsidiaries and shells for months."
"Danvers International?" Lena said. "I've never heard of it."
"Neither has anyone else," Sam said. "I looked. It was incorporated about a year ago. It has exactly one employee, who holds the position of Chairman of the Board, CEO, COO, and CFO. There are one-hundred shares of privately held stock, all owned by that same employee. Someone named Kara Danvers."
"Who the hell is Kara Danvers?" Lena asked.
"Hell if I know," Sam said. "The only Kara Danvers I can find is the head of the Supergirl Social Media Group at CatCo, who was Cat Grant's assistant up until about two weeks ago."
"Could it be the same person?"
Sam shrugged. "Maybe. I've got an investigator looking into it, and it would sort of make sense, because we're not the only ones Danvers International is trying to buy."
"Who else are they going after?" Lena asked.
"CatCo, Galaxy Communications, Lord Technologies, TychoTech and Queen Consolidated."
"That's quite a list," Lena said.
"Yeah," Sam said. "All vulnerable right now, all with depressed stock prices."
"Odd mix, though," Lena said. "Lord Technologies might be a good fit with CatCo and Galaxy. I could even see raiding LuthorCorp to get at the LexTel assets."
"Could it be the Super connections?" Sam asked.
"Maybe," Lena said. "Though I don't recall any connection between Queen Consolidated and Supergirl or Superman."
"I'll keep looking," Sam said, "But as much as I hate to say it, I think you should look at the Tender Offer. Even with Lex's shares, we won't be able to hold the company."
"I'm not ready to give up just yet," Lena said. "See if you can get a hold of this Kara Danvers. I'd like to talk to her before I make a decision. I mean, assuming the Marshalls will let me go to National City."
"I'll see what I can do."
Maggie walked through the police station, head held high, daring anyone to say so much as a word to her as she carried the banker's box filled with the meager contents of her desk towards the front door. She needn't have bothered. No one looked at her. No one wanted the taint covering Maggie Sawyer to splash on them.
Fuck every last one of them.
She'd known of course. Every police departments had corrupt cops. It's something you hate, and you live with. Some cops, and Maggie was one of them, would drop a dime to internal affairs when they saw it. Some cops would call you a traitor for that, but Maggie had decided what kind of cop she wanted to be before she ever joined the force. Had decided when a good friend of hers had disappeared for three days, only to turn up, beaten and bruised. The cops who did it were never caught. Never faced justice. After all, who was going to believe a gay black prostitute who said a couple of cops had beaten him up?
She'd known, and she'd signed up anyway. She'd moved up fast, made detective, made it into the Science Division. She was thirty-three years old, and she was holding her own. She made good busts, did good police work. She helped where she could. Kept aliens who weren't hurting people out of cells., kept gay kids out of trouble, and absolutely destroyed anyone who threatened either of those communities, and she HATED dirty cops with a passion.
She could never quite talk herself into making the jump to internal affairs. They'd asked three times, but the streets were Maggie's passion. The streets were where she could help people like her. The outcasts, the misfits, the rejects. Out on the street, Maggie Sawyer was the thin blue line that stood between the vulnerable and the monsters, in and out of uniform.
And then came Kara Danvers, with her sunny smile, and her sympathetic ear, and a sister she couldn't stop talking about. Kara Danvers who could fly, and shoot fire from her eyes, and blow the arctic wind from her lips. Kara Danvers who cared, just as much as Maggie did. Kara Danvers, who had finally introduced her to that sister, who was everything Kara had promised she would be. The sister who made Maggie's insides melt every time she smiled. The sister who, just a few nights ago, she found tasted like peaches, and smelled like apples, and moaned just so.
Kara Danvers who was from the future. Who had lived through a vicious, horrible war, and walked away from the woman she'd loved and had chosen to die and risk having to go through it all again, just for the chance to make things better. Kara Danvers who risked everything to save the life of a woman who'd belittled her and scorned her, not because it was the smart thing to do, or the right thing to do, but because she couldn't bear the thought of someone getting hurt because of her. Kara Danvers, who was too kind and gentle and compassionate to be someone who'd seen her world die, and spent over a decade fighting a hard, bitter war.
Maggie didn't regret it. Not for a second. She loved Kara. Kara was her sister, in heart if not in blood. And Maggie had seen enough cases get rigged to know exactly what was about to happen.
Maggie had known there were crooked cops in the National City Police Department. She just hadn't realized that the Chief was one of them. And the Commissioner. But she wasn't stupid, and she'd seen the writing on the wall, clear as day, so she'd made a choice to protect Kara in the only way that would stick. She'd talked to the press, and she'd let Leslie talk to the press. She'd let the press see Kara and Leslie standing there together, and even if the Chief and the Commissioner tried to walk back what she'd said to the press, there was no way in hell the DA would press charges. Maggie had spiked the case against Kara irrevocably. She'd poisoned the well.
And all it had cost her was her job, her pension, and her future.
The orders had been specific. Hold Supergirl and Willis until the Captain arrived. He would take over the case. Simple as that, Maggie knew. She'd called Alex, told her what was happening, and they'd worked out a plan. Then, she'd lied to Alex for the first time. She'd told her it would be okay, and she'd get a slap on the wrist, maybe a couple days' suspension, but Maggie knew what would happen. She could tell by Alex's tone that Alex didn't believe the lie any more than she did.
In the end, Maggie didn't try to fight it. Her union rep's arguments on her behalf were perfunctory, and when it was over, Maggie had just tossed her badge on the desk and left without a word. She'd just packed her desk and headed for the parking structure.
She used her key fob to pop her trunk and tossed the banker's box inside. The two bullets slammed into her back as she reached up to close the trunk. The shots were positioned perfectly. Two 9mm hollow point Plus P rounds dead center.
They should have killed her instantly. They should have severed her spine, torn through her heart, and blown out her sternum. Except that Kara had ordered Konex to replace all of Maggie's, Alex's and Susan's clothes weeks ago with Kryptonian fabric which was designed to stop a micro-meteor hit at orbital velocities.
Maggie didn't feel a thing, but the parking structure was like an echo chamber, and even with the silencer, the sound of a gun was distinctive. Her hand dropped, brushing aside her jacket and drawing her Glock even as she turned. Her would-be assassin stood there, staring at her in disbelief, even as Maggie squeezed the trigger.
Alex jumped slightly when her phone started playing Mr. Roboto. She turned away from the security plan she was looking over, and pulled out her phone, swiping to answer it.
"Hello," Alex said.
"Lady Alex, Maggie has been attacked," Konex said.
"What?" Alex said loudly enough that everyone in the DEO command center looked up from what they were doing.
"She was shot in the back twice at close range," Konex said.
Alex physically recoiled from the words, fear twisting in her gut like a knife.
"She is unharmed," Konex said. "Lady Kara had me replace her entire wardrobe with Kryptonian barrier cloth several weeks ago, but she requires assistance immediately. Normally, I would contact Lady Kara, however, I believe her presence would make the current situation worse."
Alex felt relief flood into her when Konex said Maggie was okay, but she knew she had to get to her now. She had to protect Maggie. That was the only thought in her head, overriding everything else.
"Konex, can you transmat me?" Alex asked.
"Of course," Konex said.
"Do it," Alex said, ignoring the startled look on Susan's face as Alex drew her gun.
The first thought to go through Susan Vasquez's head when Alex drew her pistol and vanished in a flash of light right out of the DEO's command center was "why the fuck does this shit always splash on me?". She gave herself about five seconds to wallow in her self-pity, before she turned around and started barking orders.
"Reynolds, Tsung, I need two strike teams full kit, in the Blackhawks five minutes ago. Come on people, move like you've got a purpose!"
She turned to Wilson, who was at her normal station. "We've got a situation. Get me details."
She reached for her phone, taking it out and unlocking it, then tapping Konex's contact and hitting the call button.
"Agent Vasquez," Konex said.
"Report on Agent Danvers' status," she snapped.
"Maggie was attacked in the NCPD parking structure. She was shot in the back twice at short range. However, at Lady Kara's instructions, all of Detective Sawyer's clothing had been replaced with garments made of Kryptonian barrier fabric. The barrier fabric prevented injury, but Maggie was forced to kill her attacker. Given the situation, I believed it best to contact Agent Danvers instead of Lady Kara."
"Good call," Susan said. "Wilson, I want those strike teams at National City Police Headquarters parking structure yesterday."
"Yes ma'am," he said.
"Konex, put me through to Supergirl," Susan said. There was a brief pause before Kara answered.
"Hey, Susan," Kara said.
"Kara, where are you?" Susan asked.
"I'm with Cat," Kara said.
"Okay, good. I need you to stay where you are. Do you understand?"
"Susan, what's going on? Where are J'onn and Alex."
"Supergirl, I need you to listen to me," Susan said. "This is adult supervision talking. Do you understand?"
There was a moment of silence, then Kara said, "Yes. Adult supervision. Stay where I am, no matter what."
"Okay," Susan said. "Konex will brief you. I have to go." She hung up the phone and shoved it into her pocket. "Wilson, get me President Marsdin."
"On it," Wilson said.
Susan stood there, waiting as the minutes ticked by, until President Marsdin's face appeared on the screen.
"Agent Vasquez, where is acting Director Danvers?" Marsdin asked.
"Maggie Sawyer's been shot, ma'am," Susan said.
"What?" Marsdin asked, disbelief written on her face.
"My understanding of the situation is she took two rounds at close range. She's unhurt, to the best of my knowledge, but she had to kill her attacker. I have Supergirl on lockdown, and two rapid response teams are heading for the Blackhawks now, but Director Danvers made use of certain technology in Supergirl's possession to travel to the scene and render aid. We're waiting for an update, but Madam President, I am not at all comfortable with you travelling to National City at this time."
"I understand your concern, Agent Vasquez, but the situation is spiraling-"
"No, ma'am, you clearly do not understand the goddamned situation, or you wouldn't be walking into it. They shot a fucking police detective inside of the NCPD Headquarters parking structure. That's after they tried to beat Leslie Willis to death in her home and pin it on Supergirl. This entire city is a fucking powder keg, and you aren't a match, you're the Goddamned Olympic torch. Either divert your flight, or I am going to take it under my own authority as acting director of the DEO, in Director Danvers' absence, to enlist the aid of anyone I see fit to prevent this from turning into an absolute shit show. Am I clear, ma'am?"
"Perfectly, Agent Vasquez," Marsdin said. "I understand Superman is still in National City at this time."
"He is, ma'am."
"Can you contact him?" Marsdin asked.
"I can."
"Do so. See if he will agree to meet and escort my flight," Marsdin said.
"Understood. Vasquez out." Susan didn't wait for a reply, she just reached for her phone, and dialed Konex again.
"I need to talk to Superman," Susan said.
Alex materialized in the parking structure with her gun ready and turned immediately toward the sound of a surprised gasp, only to find herself staring down the barrel of Maggie's gun.
"Jesus, Danvers," Maggie said, quickly lowering her weapon. "I could have killed you."
"Are you okay?" Alex asked, looking around, taking in every shape and shadow. "Konex said you'd been shot."
"I'm fine," Maggie said.
"Thank God," Alex said, and without thinking about it, she stepped forward and pulled Maggie into a crushing hug. "You scared the hell out of me." She felt Maggie hug her back, and a bit more of the terror that had hold of her loosened.
"I scared the hell out of me," Maggie said. "But Konex was wrong. The guy missed. I heard the shots, turned around and popped the guy."
"Maggie," Alex said, finally letting go of her, "take off your jacket."
"What? Why?" Maggie said.
"Because he didn't miss," Alex said.
Maggie frowned and holstered her gun, then shrugged out of her jacket and turned it around, looking at the back of it. There were two grey lumps stuck to the back.
"What the hell?" Maggie asked.
Alex reached out and peeling one of the lumps away from the jacket. "Bullets," she said. "Same thing happens to Kara's cape sometimes when she gets shot in the back at close range."
"But how?"
"Konex said Kara has provided you with protective clothing," Alex said. "She didn't tell you, did she?"
"No," Maggie said.
"DROP THE WEAPON!" A voice yelled.
Alex turned her head, and spotted two cops, both men, standing there, weapons out.
"Easy," she said as both she and Maggie raised their hands. "I'm a federal agent, and she's a cop."
"I SAID DROP THE WEAPON!" one of them shouted.
"I said, I'm a federal agent," Alex replied.
"I don't care if you're the fucking pope, drop the damn gun," the cop replied.
"I am going to holster my weapon, then I am going to reach for my ID," Alex said.
"You are going to drop the damn gun, right-"
"TOH SNUG!" a woman shouted from the shadows.
Both of the cops shouted and dropped their guns, waving the hands frantically as if they were burnt.
"Dloc snug," the same woman said, this time in a much softer tone. Alex looked toward where the shout had come from, only to see a woman in a tux and tails step out of the shadows, shaking her head. "You boys really should learn some manners. Kcirb llaw." She waved her hand as she spoke the last two words and a brick wall appeared, blocking the cops from view.
She turned toward Alex and Maggie. "Are you Alex Danvers?" she asked.
"Um… yes?" Alex said as she lowered her hands and holstered her gun.
"Zatanna Zatara, at your service," she said, before bowing to them. "Your sister thought you could use some assistance.
Alex and Maggie looked at each other. "What is it with your sister?" Maggie asked.
Alex just shook her head.
"You're sure everything's good?" Susan asked.
"Assuming I don't shoot one of these assholes, I think we'll be okay," Alex said.
"So, fifty-fifty?" Susan asked.
"Shut up," Alex said, but there was amusement in her tone.
"Shutting up, ma'am," Susan said.
"I don't know how quickly I'm going to be able to shake us loose," Alex said.
"Anything I can do to help, ma'am?" Susan asked.
"Just make sure the security is set for the President's visit," Alex said. "I've got Konex putting together everything we can find on this John Corben guy, but this whole thing stinks. I think right now the only reason Maggie isn't in cuffs is that I've got twelve guys with Tevor assault rifles and two gunships parked on the roof."
"I'm on it, ma'am," Susan replied. "See you soon."
The video feed cut, and Susan turned around, only to jump at the sight of Leslie Willis standing right in front of her.
"I will say this for Supergirl," Leslie said, "she sure knows how to find the hot ladies."
"How did you get in here?" Susan asked.
"Easy," Leslie said, then she vanished, leaving behind only an arc of lightning jumping from where she was standing, to a spot on one of the catwalks, where she reappeared. She leaned down, resting her arms on the hand rails of the catwalk. "You know, when Supergirl said I was going to have powers, I thought it would take me forever to learn to use them. I had the whole thing in my head. There was a training montage, me in a sports bra and yoga pants punching a heavy bag and looking fabulous, me fighting Supergirl, me frying Supergirl with lightning. The soundtrack was Technojihad by Psykosonik. It was a thing. But this…"
She disappeared, and a lightning bolt struck the ground in front of Susan, leaving Leslie standing in front of her. "This is like breathing. I don't even have to think about it. I can feel the electricity flowing around us. It's calling to me, like music."
Susan frowned, not at all liking where this was going. "Are you okay?"
Leslie nodded. "It's a… It's like a really good high," she said. "I'm wired, and I need to do something."
Susan was going to kill Kara. Really, she was.
"I tell you what," she said. "Why don't I have Kafel take you down to the firing range, and you can try blasting a few targets? Sound good?"
Leslie nodded. "I can work with that," she said. "Get in some practice for when we find this Henshaw guy."
Susan waved Kafel over. "Take Miss Willis down to the special ordinance firing range," she said. "The Heat Vision settings should do."
Kafel nodded and headed for the range, Leslie in tow.
Susan watched them leave, then shook herself as she realized where her eyes had been focused. She must be a lot more stressed than she thought. She'd only been single a month, and she usually had to have a dry spell of at least six months before she was reduced to staring at straight girls' asses.
Being the adult sucked.
J'onn stared down at the board in front of him, trying to find a way out of the trap he'd been so skillfully lured into, and had to admit there wasn't one. He reached forward, and tipped his king over, conceding the match.
"You're a fast learner," he said.
"You are a capable teacher," Astra replied. "But truth be told, you give me more credit that I deserve. The game is similar to one we played on Krypton. A bit simpler. /,mizrhosh,levrrosh,/ works in three dimensions."
"I should teach you Go," J'onn said. "Kara loves it. Says it reminds her of /,:divi,chao,dovrrosh,/."
Astra smiled. "She loved that game," she said. "From the moment I taught her. We played for hours."
"Was she any good?" J'onn asked.
"No," Astra said, her smile growing a bit. "I love my niece, but she has no patience at all."
"She might surprise you," J'onn said.
"I find you surprising, son of Mars," Astra said. "Most would be angry, were they in your situation."
"I knew this day would come," J'onn said. "A secret like mine can only be kept so long. Oh, it might have held, if Henshaw had really died, but once I knew he was alive, this moment became inevitable."
"Tell me, does my niece still deceive herself into believing we will be freed?" Astra asked.
"You will be," J'onn said as he began to reset the board for another game. "One way, or the other."
"That sounds ominous," Astra said.
"It should," J'onn said. "If Marsdin doesn't keep her word, your niece will tear this place apart to free you."
"And then?" Astra asked.
"War," J'onn said. "A long, terrible war."
"I do not wish that for her," Astra said, as she made her first move.
"War is coming," J'onn said. "If not with the humans, then with the Oans and the Apokoliptians."
"You sound sure of that," Astra said.
"As sure as I am that I'm sitting in prison."
"Very sure than," Astra said. "I trust the irony doesn't escape you."
"It doesn't," J'onn said. "The humans even have a phrase for it. 'A prison of your own making.'"
"And yet, you still have hope."
"I do," J'onn said. "It's a byproduct of spending time around the Danvers. They have ways of working miracles."
"Well, J'onn J'onzz, let us hope you are right. I would very much like to have a word with this man who's cast doubt on my niece's good name."
"You and me both."
Susan stood at attention as the President walked into the DEO command center, wondering not for the first time what on Earth she had done to deserve a day like this. Superman was only a few steps behind her, and there was a vague look of fear on his face. Given the expression on Marsdin's face, she couldn't say she was surprised. If Marsdin has looked at her like that, even a month ago, Susan probably would have run and hid under her bunk. Somehow, though, the prospect of being responsible for stopping the end of the world made her worry less about the President being pissed at her.
"Agent Vasquez," Marsdin said, and her tone did nothing to hide the anger behind her eyes.
"Acting Director Vasquez," Susan corrected.
"You'll forgive me if I don't apologize," Marsdin replied.
"You'll forgive me if I don't apologize for calling you a damn stubborn fool," Susan shot back, making Superman, and at least two members of the secret service team wince.
"Well, I suppose there's no questioning your bravery," Marsdin said.
"I'm trying to keep you alive, ma'am," Susan said. "I don't appreciate anyone adding to the difficulty of that task. Even you."
Marsdin relaxed, just a bit. "I suppose that's a fair sentiment, Director, but I don't believe I have any choice. If what we're doing is to succeed, we all have to accept a little risk."
"With respect, ma'am, you could have signed the paperwork in your nice, safe office three thousand miles from the fucking war zone I am trying my best to manage."
"I could have, but I could not have appeared on stage with Director Henshaw, General Astra, and Supergirl."
Susan took a deep breath. "We could have arranged that, actually," Susan said. "Or, at least, Supergirl could have. But it's done. You're here. How would you like to proceed?"
"First, I'd like an update on the situation with Detective Sawyer," Marsdin said.
"The situation is still in flux," Susan said. "Detective Sawyer called us this morning to inform us that she believed the National City Police Commissioner and the Chief of Police were attempting to railroad Supergirl. She had a signed statement from Willis confirming Supergirl's innocence, but the Commissioner and the Chief ordered her to hold Supergirl, and a contact she had in the DA's office confirmed that charges were still being prepared. Detective Sawyer headed this off by making a public statement confirming Supergirl's innocence, and then allowed Willis to speak to the press. The Commissioner fired Detective Sawyer for insubordination and disobeying a direct order. Detective Sawyer turned in her badge and cleared out her desk. While loading her belongings into the trunk of her car, a known assassin for hire named John Corben shot her from behind with a silenced Glock 9mm. Detective Sawyer was wearing low profile body armor of Kryptonian design when attacked, and as a result, was unharmed. She drew her weapon, which she was carrying under cover of a civilian carry permit and shot Corben twice in the chest. Acting Director Danvers was notified of the incident by an automated monitoring system and took advantage of a piece of Supergirl's equipment to travel immediately to the scene and make sure Detective Sawyer was safe. I dispatched a pair of strike teams as back up and assumed command of the DEO in Director Danvers' absence. I notified Supergirl of the situation, and ordered her to remain in place, however, she contacted one of her assets, a sorceress named Zatanna Zatara to render aid. Zatanna arrived in time to prevent two National City Police Officers from taking Danvers and Sawyer into custody. The situation has since devolved into a jurisdictional pissing match between the NCPD and the DEO. The NCPD wants jurisdiction because the attempt was made on NCPD property. We are claiming jurisdiction because Sawyer is a credentialed consultant for us. Of course, we'd be better able to press the claim if we weren't having to claim to be FBI, but for now, there's nothing we can do about that situation."
"Well, that I can help with. Once we're done here, get me an office, and I'll make a call."
"Thank you, ma'am," Susan said.
"What about the arrangements for the signing?" Marsdin asked.
"Progressing. We've been holding off on securing a venue, however. We have no idea how far our enemy's intelligence reaches, so we want to save that for the last minute. At the moment, we haven't even informed NCPD that you will be in town. That's why I insisted Air Force One land here."
"How quickly can we have this done, Director?" Marsdin asked.
"Unsure. I'd say one o'clock, but it depends on how quickly we can find a venue."
"As fast as possible, please," Marsdin said.
"Understood," Vasquez replied. "Brody, set President Marsdin up in the office next to the one Major Lane is using."
"Yes, ma'am," came the response as a young agent stepped forward. "This way, Madame President," she said, leading the way towards the office General Lane used when he was there."
Susan waited until they were gone, then pulled out her phone and dialled Kara.
"Susan, is Alex okay?" Kara asked.
"She's fine," Susan said. "Quick thinking with Zatanna. Alex was impressed."
Kara snorted. "Is that what they're calling it now," Kara said, amusement in her voice. "I'd worry that Maggie would notice how impressed Alex was, but Maggie's probably too busy being impressed herself."
Susan smiled for the first time in hours. "Having seen Zatanna, I'm pretty impressed too, but that's not why I called. I need your help."
"What's happening?"
"Marsdin is in National City," Susan said.
"WHAT? No. Oh, Susan, whose dumb idea was that?" Kara asked.
"Hers, and I've already told her it was a horrible idea," Susan said.
"Can't J'onn do something?"
"J'onn's not available," Susan said.
"Why? What happened?"
"Nothing to worry about," Susan said. "Just, I need a safe venue where Marsdin can hold a press conference. She's going to sign the Amnesty act, then sign the pardons we've prepared, along with a couple of executive orders. Once it's done, our hands will be untied. We can go after Cadmus. But she has to live long enough to sign them."
"Do it here at CatCo," Kara said. "Short of the DEO building downtown, it's the most defensible location in National City."
"Um… No offence Kara, but CatCo Plaza is a giant target."
"It would be, if I hadn't spliced an Omegahedron into the power system and installed defense field generators around the CatCo building months ago."
Susan blinked as her entire thought process blue-screened for a moment. When it came back online, she just shook her head.
"Kara, I could kiss you right now," she said.
"At least buy me dinner first," Kara said, laughter in her voice. "We have a studio on the twelfth floor that should be large enough. I'll get working on it. No motorcade though. You keep Oliva there until it's time, and we'll do a site-to-site transmat."
"Got it," Susan said. "See you soon." She hung up, and slipped her phone back in her pocket, then started making preparations while hoping like hell no-one told Kara that J'onn had spent the last few hours in lock up, and that two of the pardons in question were for Susan and Alex.
Christ, today was a shit show, start to finish.
Bruce muted the sound coming from the batcomputer, and leaned back, staring unseeingly at the screen.
"You're absolutely sure?" Bruce asked.
"Positive," Barbara said. She was sitting at the workstation next to him.
"We've checked everything three times," Tim said, from the other side of where Bruce sat. "The money trails are incredibly well covered, but the initial deposit was done in nineteen ninety-eight."
"There was about fifty billion in accumulated assets by the time Kara got hired at CatCo," Barbara said. "But that number has grown about three thousand percent in the last fourteen months."
"I don't get it," Tim said. "I thought she arrived in two thousand three."
"She did," Bruce said. "I tracked her from the Fortress while Clark went out to intercept the pod."
"Then how is this possible?" Barbara asked.
"I don't know," Bruce said, "but we need to find out. Can you get me a physical location on where the transactions were coming from?"
"Up until October of last year," Tim said. "After that, the connection becomes much harder to trace. Victor might be able to run it down, but we haven't been able to trace it."
"That makes sense," Bruce said. "According to Clark, that's around the time she set up her own Fortress."
"Well, before that, everything was coming from this building," Tim said, pulling up a map of Keystone City, and zooming in to a small building in the industrial district. "I've pulled everything I can on it. The property taxes are paid by a property management service, which also pays a maintenance crew to keep the place up to code. Twice a year, an IT subcontractor goes in and upgrades a server rack and checks all the network connections. The old computers have their hard drives replaced before they are donated to a charity which does IT for community centers in low income areas of Keystone, Central and National City. The old hard drives are shredded. There's a security company that drives by twice a night and monitors an alarm system, but there's no onsite security. The only thing odd about the place is the amount of internet bandwidth. It's been steadily upgraded over the years. Right now, it's at one-hundred gigabits per second, symmetrical."
"That's a lot of bandwidth for a single server rack," Bruce said.
"What do you think it means?" Tim asked.
"I don't know," Bruce said.
"This is Kara we're talking about," Barbara said. "Why not just ask?"
"Because something doesn't add up," Bruce said.
"Because we don't have all the information," Barbara said. "Hence the asking part."
"She has a point, Bruce," Tim said.
"I think I might need to take a trip to Keystone city," Bruce said.
"Or I could just call Kara," Barbara said. "Look, I have my phone, right here."
Bruce hit the intercom button. "Alfred, call and have the jet prepped for a trip to Keystone city."
Barbara leaned over, so she could see Tim past Bruce. "Why is he like this?"
Tim threw his hands up in the air. "Repeated head trauma?"
Translated from the Kryptonian:
,mizrhosh,levrrosh,
Advance - Retreat
,:divi,chao,dovrrosh,
light and shadow