Zhu Li Moon gazed out over the city through binoculars. The top of Varrick tower had a great view, but it felt like she was looking for a needle in a haystack.
"This is less interesting than I expected it to be," Varrick said behind her.
She couldn't fault the accuracy of the statement, but the fact that he'd left all the work to her wasn't exactly endearing him to her. "You didn't have to come along, sir."
"And miss out on the story of the century?" he asked somewhat inconsistently.
"While certainly important," Moon said, "I doubt this is bigger than the fall of the Phoenix Lord and the end of the Long War," she said still scanning the city.
"That was last century," Varrick protested. Technically true, at least under one calendar's definition of the turn of the century. "Besides, we weren't printing a newspaper back then." Which was presumably the main point to his way of thinking.
A flash of light caught her eye and she zoomed in with the binoculars. The Avatar was still not much more than a speck at this distance, but as she rose above the city she gave a burst of flame confirming her identity. "There she is," she said. "Heading away from the financial district due west."
"All right!" Varrick exclaimed. "Do the thing!"
Moon turned to stare at him. He pointed at the radio phone, grinning. He was as close to the phone as she was, he could just as well do it himself. On the other hand, it was important that Varrick's driver get clear instructions. "Yes, sir," she said suppressing a sigh and picked up the receiver.
"I'll be damned, it works." Shin's voice came out of the radio, echoing slightly in the confines of the autogyro hangar.
Asami's smile twitched at the corner of her mouth as she adjusted her own M-ray detector. "Thank you for your vote of confidence, Mr. Shin. Could we have a bearing?"
"Working on it boss." He muttered to himself over the open line. "OK. Looks like ten degrees south of west. I'm measuring from in front of City Hall," he said at last.
"Right." She went to the map on the table and started plotting the bearings taken by Shin, Yin, and herself. She got a sinking feeling after the first two lines intersected. The third confirmed it.
"Damnation," came Yin's voice over the radio.
"Can I take it you got the same results I did?" Asami asked.
"If you placed our trouble spot right over Yue bay," Yin answered, "then yes you can. They're going after shipping, aren't they?"
"It sounds like a good guess. We'll see what's up when I get there. Turns out to be a good thing I decided to go airborne."
"Yes, the opportunity to crash at sea isn't to be missed," Yin said dryly.
"Save the helpful comments for when I'm in the air," she said and switched off the radio. She ran for the autogyro, climbed into the cockpit, and buckled herself in. "Chocks away," she said as she hit the throttle.
At first, the only thing Korra could see in the bay was the ship. It was moving fast for a vessel this close to shore. Normally, a boat that big would be in the care of a tug, not going under its own steam. From the wake, it looked like it had initially been inbound to the port, but it had turned and was currently running almost parallel to the shore. Maybe it was still turning outward, getting ready to retreat from Yue bay.
She couldn't see what they were running from yet, but she was sure that was what they were doing. The captain and crew would have to be afraid of something much worse than running aground or capsizing to sail so recklessly. Then the ship gave a lurch as if something large under the surface had struck it. There was a burst of spray and something arose from the water into the air to hover next to the ship. It was hard to make out at this distance, but it was large and definitely alive. Or whatever it was Spirits technically were. Someone on deck fired a flare gun at the thing. The sizzling flare glowed red against it, and bounced off with no apparent effect.
She'd need hands free when she got there if she was going to accomplish anything. And there was one way to travel that was even faster than flying for her. She snapped the kite shut and let herself drop toward the bay. She maintained a slight updraft to slow her fall, but most of her concentration was on the water below her. The waves immediately beneath her slowed and died out. Then a new swell developed, moving opposite to the surrounding waves. She twisted her body to drop feet first toward the growing swell. It rose to meet her, engulfed her to the waist and bore her outward toward the fleeing ship.
Varrick's private car sped through the streets of Republic City. Opal rode in the back with Bolin beside her. Right now he had his eyes clamped shut and was muttering under his breath, possibly praying. Opal sympathized. Varrick's driver was blessed with a lead foot and a lot of nerve. She still watched where they were going, but she was gripping the seat back in front of her tightly. A horn blared at them as they ran a red light. Bolin whimpered slightly.
Opal considered the neighborhood they were currently speeding through. "Aren't we about to run out of land?" she asked the driver.
"I'm just going where your editor tells me, and she's telling me to head for the bay," he answered, sounding bored.
"Can she still see the Avatar at that distance?"
"I didn't ask," he said.
Opal decided to stop distracting him as their passage through the latest intersection was greeted by the sound of screeching tires from the side street.
They reached the waterfront and the driver turned sharply onto the road that ran along Yue Bay. He pulled to an abrupt stop at the side of the road. "Well," he said pointing out the window, "there's your story."
Opal stared seaward. "Bo, I think you'd better open your eyes and look."
He opened one eye at first and glanced around. Apparently satisfied that they were no longer in any danger, he opened the other eye and turned the way she was pointing. "Is that... is that a Spirit?"
"I guess so. Can you get a picture?"
"It's pretty far out. Even with my best lens, its still just going to be a glowing blob." Nonetheless he started getting his camera ready.
Opal turned to the driver. "Are we near the marina?"
"A few blocks away. Why?"
"Bolin, take what pictures you can out of the window. You," she said to the chauffeur, "drive."
The freighter had completed its high speed turn without capsizing and was heading back toward open waters. The Spirit still pursued and harried it. Now that Korra was close, she could see that it looked like a manta ray, although one with nine tails instead of the usual one. Also intricate glowing patterns decorated its fins. Someone on the ship had broken out a rifle and was trying to kill it or at least drive it off. That didn't seem to work any better than the flare gun had. If anything the attacks on the ship were growing more savage. Meanwhile, Korra was stuck in a stern chase that was taking too long for her to get in attack range.
One of the Spirit's tails lashed out and crashed against the deck as it flew past. The ship rocked dangerously, and Korra could hear the cries of alarm from the crew. She hoped the marksman would take the hint and stop trying to annoy the already dangerously angry creature. She gestured, reaching out with her awareness, trying to persuade the water carrying her that it wanted to flow faster, as she continued her pursuit of the ship and its attacker.
The speed boat cut through the waters of Yue Bay. Bolin struggled to get the distant ship centered in his viewfinder and triggered the shutter. The bouncing of the boat was making it difficult, but he thought he had still managed a few decent shots. "These aren't going to be winning any prizes," he yelled over the motor. "Of course, we'll probably be in jail tonight for stealing this boat, so they won't get printed anyway."
"It's not stealing, it's borrowing," Opal shouted back. "The boat belongs to my brother Wei. He loves the speed the motor gives him. Now Wing prefers sailing. He's got his own craft at the same marina. They argue about it all the time. Gotta say that after tonight, Wei's ahead on points in my book."
He glanced at her. She was grinning. "You sound like you're enjoying yourself," he said.
"Aren't you?"
The boat crested a larger than average wave and he felt the sudden drop in his stomach. He swallowed. "Let me get back to you on that one."
She hit him in the arm. "Up there," she said pointing. He looked up. A small aircraft was flying low over the water off to their left. "Get a shot of that," she said. "It looks like someone else is going our way."
Asami glanced at the oscilloscope mounted on the dash of the autogyro. The signal trace of the M-rays was getting stronger, but not yet strong enough. "I'm catching up, but I'm still a ways out," she said into the radio. "I've got my target in sight though."
"I copy," Yin said, "Please try to be careful."
"As careful as I can afford to be," she promised.
Ahead, she saw the glow of fire blossom over the bay. The Avatar had arrived at their target.
Korra ducked a swipe from one of the Manta Spirit's tails. She rode her wave backward to increase the distance between them and launched another fire burst at its eyes. Another tail arced up and over the Spirit's body, stabbing like a scorpion's sting at the spot she'd been an instant before. They behaved more like tentacles than tails, and the wretched things seemed to be growing longer.
There was the crack of a rifle. The Spirit turned from Korra back toward the ship. Korra summoned a tendril of water. She wrapped it around one of the tails of the retreating Spirit, froze it and gave it a yank. "Stop helping!" she bellowed at the ship's crew. The stern chase had ended abruptly when the ship slowed to a halt. It had allowed Korra to catch up, but meant that even though she was doing her best to keep the Spirit occupied, the vessel wasn't making good their escape. Although maybe that wasn't a bad thing. The last thing anyone needed was for the ship to blunder into the territory of yet another Spirit.
The Manta was still focused on the freighter. Korra launched herself out of the water and landed on its back. She ran forward and leapt off of its head at the front. She turned in mid air and pumped her fists to fire off a rapid salvo of flame bursts. The Spirit reared back, and she summoned a quick gale that caught its outspread fins and sent it tumbling into the water. Before it could emerge she froze the surface surrounding it. Part of it was still above the surface and thrashed against the encasing ice.
She summoned another wave and rode it up to the ship. She landed on the deck next to a man who looked like the captain. "Why did you stop running?" she said without introduction.
"We're taking on water," he said grimly. "In the engine room." Now that she looked she could see that the crew was getting ready to lower the starboard lifeboat. She also saw that one boat wasn't big enough to carry the entire crew. But the port side faced where she had been fighting the Spirit.
"Right. Start getting the port boat ready too. I'll do my best to draw the Spirit off far enough for you to launch it. Once you're clear of the ship it should lose interest in you. As long as you don't do anything more to anger it." She looked pointedly at the rifle in the hands of the man behind the captain.
"You sure about that?" one of the crew called out. A murmur of agreement ran through the crew.
"It thinks you ship is trying to hurt it," she said. A bit oversimplified, but close enough. "I'll do something about that when I get the chance, but first priority is getting all of you to safety."
The sound of cracking ice drew her attention back to the water. The Manta Spirit shook itself free from the remains of the ice. It launched itself toward the ship. Korra pulled a wall of water up in its path and flash froze it. There was a satisfying thump and cracks showed in the near side of the wall befor it collapsed into the bay like a calving iceberg. "Round two," Korra said, vaulting over the railing.
As they got closer to the battle, Opal slowed the speedboat. They could get good pictures without rushing into danger.
Next to her, Bolin lowered his camera. "What's that in the water ahead?" he asked.
Opal followed where he pointed and idled the engine. There was something floating between them and the beleaguered ship. She turned around and dug into the locker behind her seat and found a big flashlight. With a sick feeling of already knowing what she would see, she turned the light on. A sailor floated in the water. From the way he floated, he was clearly wearing a life jacket. He was also clearly unconscious. He didn't react at all to the light shining in his face.
She handed the light to Bolin. "Keep it trained on him." She eased forward on the throttle to move carefully toward the sailor. And they got close she turned so they came alongside him. She cut the motor. "Do you think you can pull him on board?" she asked Bolin.
"Get on the opposite side of the boat. It'll help balance out." He reached out and grabbed hold of the man. The boat began to tip alarmingly and Opal leaned out on over the opposite edge. It was a struggle, but Bolin managed to haul the man on board, and they didn't capsize. They laid the man out on the bottom of the boat. "He's still breathing," Bolin said, "but that's a nasty bruise on his head. And he's cold."
"There's a blanket in the locker, but I don't know if that's good enough. I don't know what to do for him. We need to head back to shore. Get him help. We've got a radio for emergencies. This counts." She realized she babbling, shook her head, and climbed back behind the wheel and revved the motor. Next to her Bolin tried to figure out the radio.
"Think anyone else went overboard?" he asked.
"I don't know, and we could waste a lot of time looking. I'll keep an eye open as we go, just in case." She turned the craft back to the port, all thoughts of the story gone from her mind.
"Target is in range," Asami said over the radio. "I'll have to go off the air until the operation is done."
"Understood," Yin answered. "Call when you're done." She didn't sound happy, but didn't put up any last minute arguments.
Ahead of her the Avatar fought the Spirit, half driving, half luring it away from the freighter. She aimed the nose of the autogyro right at the pair. "Sorry about this," she said as she cut in the amplifier and switched her M-ray detector into broadcast mode.
"It's taking your jamming idea to its logical conclusion," she had explained to the Avatar at their last meeting. "I can't mask the signal from the Voice's device, but I can send my own signal out. Shout louder, if you will. Make myself the more attractive target. Draw any Spirits away and give you the chance to shut down the latest device."
The Avatar had stared at her a long time before speaking. "You're absolutely right. I do hate the idea."
Ahead of her, both the Avatar and the Spirit visibly flinched at the increased onslaught of the M-rays. "Sorry," Asami said again. "Desperate times."
The Spirit recovered quickly, turning toward her and lunging upward. Asami banked the flyer out of its path. "Let's just hope I'm more maneuverable than you, my friend. Or else this is going to be one short, unsuccessful distraction."
The first lifeboat was pulling strongly away from the ship. The second was being lowered into the water when Korra returned to the ship and landed on deck. "What are you doing?" the captain yelled up at her.
"Gotta find the thing that's tormenting the Spirit. We'll all be safer once I shut it down," she called back. "I don't suppose you've seen any suspicious boxes lying around tonight? Never mind, I'll find it on my own."
"Don't be a fool! The ship's sinking. This is no time to be running around below decks."
"Trust me," she said. "Drowning is not one of my worries." She ran to the door leading into the ship. She might not have to worry about the dangers of being caught in a sinking ship, but the clock was ticking for the Ghost up in her flying machine.
Fortunately, the M-ray transmitter wasn't that hard to find. Even with the interference from the Ghost's counter transmission, this close to the primary source it was easy to feel the signal. She tracked it down to one of the crew cabins. The door was locked. "Seriously? Who locks their door before abandoning ship?" The door didn't look that sturdy. She gave it a solid kick and the latch gave way. She found herself looking down the barrel of a gun. "Ah. That explains it." She raised her hands.
The occupant of the cabin was young, probably younger than her. He was backed up against the bunks. Behind him on the lower bunk was a familiar looking case. She returned her attention to the young man. His eyes were wide, and he was breathing heavily, but he still held the pistol steady. "Get out of here," he said.
"You do know the ship is sinking, don't you?" she said in a conversational tone. "I don't really know your captain that well, but off hand he doesn't seem the sort to abandon ship with a man left behind. Does he think you were on the first lifeboat? Easy enough trick to pull. Be on deck for the head count, then fade away while everyone else is busy. Seems like a waste of effort, though. Why don't you put down the gun and you can get out of here with your life."
"I'm not afraid to die," he said.
"You know," she continued in the same pleasant tones, "drowning isn't a very pleasant way to go. Maybe you haven't been to sea much, but I've seen the aftermath of a few wrecks in my time. A drowning person is one of the most dangerous things in the water. They'll pull their friends down with them in their desperation to get to the surface. That's how terrifying it is." She looked around the room. "Now this? Trapped in a box slowly filling with water? Got to be even worse, knowing that once its full, there won't even be a surface to try to claw your way to. You picked one nasty way to check out. And what for? I admit it. You've won this round. The ship's already sinking. Job done. I'm pretty amazing but patching up the hull and pulling the water out is a bigger task than I'm ready to take on."
"Oh yeah?" he said. "Then why are you down here?"
"The longer your machine is torturing that Spirit the more likely it is someone gets hurt."
He gave a shaky laugh. "And that's why I'm down here. To make sure it stays angry as long as possible. Sacrifices have to be made. People need to be afraid."
Korra frowned under her mask. "I just lost all sympathy for you. I don't have time for this." She reached out with her awareness and squeezed her fist shut. As she did, the end of the gun barrel collapsed to a slit with a creak of tortured metal. "I don't recommend you pull the trigger now, unless you want to blow your hand off."
He had enough with to listen to her and turned the gun to stare at the crushed barrel. As he looked back up at her wide eyed, she made a sudden motion with her arm, and a gust of wind swept him sideways to crash into the bulkhead. He fell to the ground unconscious. Ignoring him, she bent over the case of the M-ray device and looked to the best way to shut it down.
Asami pulled the gyro out of a dive as close to the water's surface as she dared. Behind her, the Spirit, less agile in its bulk, hit the water with a titanic splash and disappeared below the surface. Asami banked left and climbed to not be where it expected when it emerged again. As she did, the oscilloscope trace on her M-ray detector went flat. She gave out a sigh of relief. The Avatar had succeeded then. "Good job, partner," she said. "Sorry I can't do more now that you don't need a distraction." Maybe she should adapt the autogyro to be able to make a water landing. You never hew what might come up in the future.
She glanced out of the cockpit down at the bay, just in time to see the Manta Spirit break the surface of the water and resume its pursuit of her. Was she still transmitting? Hurriedly, she turned to the autogyro's control panel and cut all power to the amplifiers, then to the M-ray detector itself, and then to the radio, just to be sure. The Spirit still followed, beating forward with strong flaps of its fins.
"Oh good. I guess I managed to make you really angry."
Korra used her metalbending to pull free a section of the ship's railing and wrapped it around her captive. She slung him over one shoulder and summoned a wave with her free hand. She picked up the case containing the M-ray transmitter, stepped into the wave and rode it to the captain's lifeboat. She dumped the crewman ungently into the bottom of the boat. He groaned at looked up at her blearily as she floated alongside.
"Sparks! He was supposed to be on the other lifeboat," the captain said.
"He decided to stay behind," Korra replied. "Radio operator, huh? That makes sense. Been part of your crew long?"
"This was his first voyage with us. Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
She nodded. "That he's the reason your ship got attacked. Him and this." She set the M-ray device down in the boat.
"Why?" the captain asked. He sounded more confused than anything, but the rest of the crew in the boat began muttering angrily among themselves.
"That's a question for the police." She raised her voice so the whole boat could hear. "So I expect him to get back to shore in no worse shape than he is now. I will be checking on that." There was still some grumbling, but the captain met her eye and gave her a firm nod. "Anyway, you should all be safe with this device shut down. It's what made the Spirit angry."
"Then why is that manta thing still chasing after that weird plane?" one of the sailors asked.
Korra looked up in alarm in the direction the man was pointing. The Ghost's autogyro was a retreating speck. The glowing body of the Spirit was much clearer and obviously still in pursuit. "Oh, no no no no..." Behind her there were shouts of surprise as the lifeboat rocked in her wake as Korra pushed the wave she was riding toward the retreating figures as fast as she could.
Earlier Asami hadn't flown all out, wanting to make sure she stayed an attractive target. Now she discovered that even at full throttle the autogyro couldn't outpace the Spirit. At least she was still able to outmaneuver it, but it was learning, and each near miss got a little nearer. She jinked to the left out of its way. It shot past, but one of its tails flicked out and rang against the fuselage. Not hard enough to make her lose control but enough that she could feel it. She banked hard right again as soon as she was clear of it. Through the case she'd made her way toward shore in hopes that the Manta would stay confined to the bay. Her evasive maneuvering had prevented her from traveling directly, but now she was finally there. The autogyro flew over the surf, shot past a short stretch of beach, and then was over the forest. She hugged close to the tree tops, hoping she would finally shake her pursuer.
Behind her, even above the roar of the motor, she heard the crash of something large smashing its way through the trees.
Korra had gained ground on the autogyro and the pursuing Spirit. She'd guessed the significance of the Ghost's zig-zagging path and had taken a more direct route across the bay. But now she was running out of water, and the pair were flying away over the forest on the outskirts of Republic City. She unslung the kite from her back. At the same time she called more and more water to the wave she was riding, making it grow higher and higher. She reached the shallows and the wave broke underneath her. She snapped the kite open and rode a wind upward.
If she was going to catch up and help the Ghost, the winds wouldn't be enough. There was only one thing she could do, and she just had to hope it wouldn't tap her reserves to the point she couldn't deal with the Spirit when she caught up. Holding onto the shaft of the kite with one hand, she pointed her other hand behind her and created a jet of flame, pushing herself forward faster than the wind alone could carry her.
Asami glanced at the fuel gauge. She wouldn't be able to run much longer, if the Spirit didn't give up the chase. She doubted she could count on that happening soon enough. It did seemed to be tiring slightly, which in other circumstances would have been an interesting data point. Now it was the one straw of hope she clung to. Bit by bit, it took longer to catch her up after every evasive maneuver. Which was good because her own exhaustion was starting to take its toll on her reflexes.
She glanced back over her shoulder, frowned and risked a longer look. Back behind the Spirit she had seen an orange flash of flame which flared in and out from behind a familiar silhouette. Barely daring to hope, she banked the autogyro in as sharp a reversal as she dared. The Spirit, surprised by her sudden change of direction loomed ahead of her, lunging upward too slow to intercept her as she shot past.
Before her the Avatar approached on her glider. As Asami watched, she swept her free hand forward and a fire ball shot past the autogyro. She followed it up with two quick punches that produced smaller bursts. Asami glanced back in time to catch sight of the last of them striking the Spirit in the eyes. It thrashed and turned away, apparently dismayed. Breathing space, but she doubted it would last long enough to give her time to land. And besides, what would happen to the Avatar if Asami left her behind to face the Spirit alone? That just seemed to exchange one victim for another, a trade she wasn't willing to make.
A shout from below drew her attention. The Avatar had turned and was pacing the autogyro below and to the left. She shouted something Asami couldn't make out over the noise of the engine. She yelled again, this time beckoning with her arm, and although Asami still couldn't hear clearly, this time the meaning was clear: Jump.
She hesitated for only a moment, then brought the autogyro as level as she could and locked the control stick. She unbuckled the safety harness and carefully climbed to the edge of the cockpit, minding the whirling propeller overhead. She took a deep breath and kicked off, pushing out and away as hard as she could. Below her the Avatar rose to meet her. Then to Asami's dismay, the other woman threw her kite away at the last moment and caught Asami mid air. Together they dropped toward the forest as the autogyro roared away overhead.