A/N: So it looks like I'm updating once a month from here on, just like an actual comic title. No reviews since the last update :'( - but thanks to those who followed and favourited.
Chapter Seventeen: No Silver Bullet
"You're joking." Tom Kalmaku stared at Hal.
"Not even a little," Hal said seriously. "Think about it, Tom. When you checked the Peregrine the night before the flight test, everything was perfect, right?"
"Yes…"
"And I know all the fuel tanks were full before takeoff. There shouldn't have been any reason why the engines experienced fuel starvation, yet they did — and the plane exploded."
"Which it wouldn't have if there really wasn't any fuel left," Tom surmised. "Okay, so for some reason the engines weren't able to get fuel from the secondary tank when you activated the afterburners. That doesn't mean sabotage, Hal. It just means…a flaw in the design." He didn't sound very sure, however.
"There was no flaw," Hal stressed. "I checked the blueprints. Carol checked the blueprints. U.S.A.F. checked the blueprints. They were perfect, and everything on that plane was constructed using the blueprints as gospel. You and I inspected the Peregrine the day before the test, and so did Carol and half a dozen other engineers. Nothing was wrong, just like nothing was wrong the first time round — yet both flight tests ended badly. This whole unlikely scenario's happened twice now, Tom, and that means sabotage."
Tom sighed. He couldn't deny that the thought had crossed his mind, given the similarities between the two Peregrine failures, and there was something that had been nagging at him…
"You said the ejector jammed, right?"
"Yeah. I almost didn't make it out in time."
Tom bit his lip. "Ace couldn't eject, either."
Now it was Hal's turn to stare at Tom. "Shit," he swore. It was one thing to suspect that someone was out to get him, and quite another to have it chillingly confirmed. Without the ejector problem, it was still possible that all the saboteur wanted was the failure of the Peregrine, but he hadn't known that Ace had had problems ejecting, too.
"Someone wants you dead, Hal," Tom said grimly.
"I know." Hal ran his fingers through his hair. "But I don't know who."
"We'll figure it out," Tom said with determination. "I'm guessing the sabotage was done by putting water into the fuel tank."
"Most likely," Hal agreed. "It's the only explanation for the engines not getting fuel when the tank still had some."
"Right, and if that's how they did it, they only had about a 12-hour window between the final checks and the start of the flight test."
"It could have been anyone," said Hal. "There are no security cams on the airfield."
"But there are security cams in the observation tower," Tom pointed out.
"How does that help?" Hal asked in confusion.
"There's one that's positioned so it gets a view of the airfield through the window. Any footage would be fuzzy and probably not clear enough to identify whoever it was at that distance, but it's a start."
"Great," said Hal. "Who do we talk to to get access to that footage?"
"Remind me again why we aren't marching in there right now to interrogate her?" Zatanna's tone was somewhat waspish, her eyes fixed on the monitor which showed Star Sapphire sitting still against the wall of the Watchtower containment cell, her hands restrained by power-dampening handcuffs specifically designed to hold metabeings.
"Batman wants to let her stew for a bit," said Flash.
"Why?" demanded Zatanna. "Wonder Woman has a Lasso of Truth, for Magi's sake!"
"The lasso can only make people tell the truth, Zee. It can't actually make them do anything."
"So?"
"So what if only Star Sapphire can reverse the crystallization?" Flash pointed out reasonably. "If we go in there and use Di's lasso right off, without any leverage, Star Sapphire will know she has the upper hand, and we'll never get her to do anything. But if we wait to interrogate her, A) she gets to deal with some uncertainty and hopefully psych herself out before the interrogation; B) we might find something we can use to weigh the negotiations in our favor."
"And have we found anything?"
"Not yet," Atom admitted from his position by a terminal. "I can't even figure out the source of her powers. She doesn't have a ring, like Green Lantern."
"She might be an actual meta," Hawkgirl suggested.
"She might," Atom conceded. "I can't confirm that without a blood sample, though."
"So go get one," said Zatanna.
"Already tried. Her energy aura won't let the needle through. Couldn't unmask her for the same reason. She was very smug about that."
"I'll bet she was," Zatanna seethed.
"Zee, calm down," Flash advised. "I know you're worried about your dad, but we're doing everything we can."
Zatanna took a deep breath. "I'm going to get some air," she growled as she stalked out of the room. Atom watched her go with sympathy in his eyes.
"She's really not taking this well, is she?"
"Nope," said Flash. "I can't really blame her, though. After all she had to go through to reunite with her father, having him trapped in a crystal prison can't be easy."
"Let's hope Star Sapphire gives us some answers, then," said Hawkgirl. "I don't think Zatanna's in a mood to play nice if she doesn't."
Carol Ferris' office was empty, and while Hal thought it odd that she wasn't working this early in the afternoon, it suited their purpose just fine. Carol was doing her best to put the entire Peregrine fiasco behind her, and Hal didn't want to drag her back into it by telling her of his investigation — not until he had concrete evidence to prove foul play. She was stressed out enough without him bringing up Ferris Air's biggest failure without a good reason — and right now, with no proof, and only his gut certainty that someone had sabotaged the Peregrine project, he didn't have a good reason to let her in on it.
"This is not a good idea," Tom sighed as Hal quickly closed the door and crossed the room to Carol's computer.
"It's our only option after Simmons wouldn't let us access the security footage." Hal still sounded somewhat sore about the way their conversation with Ferris Air's chief of security had gone. He switched the monitor on and began trying out passwords.
"Technically, he's right, you know — you don't work here," Tom pointed out.
"Well, he didn't have to be such an ass about it. Aha!" Hal exclaimed as the computer beeped. "We're in!"
Tom shook his head in amazement. "I've never figured out how you always know what Carol's password is, even though she keeps changing it."
"She only ever changes it to one of her five stock passwords," Hal confided. "Right, here we go — video files. Let's see…the flight test was on the 17th…" He found the file with the correct date and clicked on it.
As Tom had said, the window footage of the airfield was grainy, and quite small. They were able to distinguish the outline of the Peregrine, but not much else — and even that was partly blocked by the window frame. The interior of the observation tower, on the other hand, was clearly defined, and it was hard not to focus on that instead of whatever minute movements might be taking place on the airstrip.
"There!" Tom pointed out the tiny speck that had appeared next to the Peregrine. "Do you see that?"
"I see it," Hal confirmed. He checked the timestamp in the corner of the screen. "4:31am. Way before anyone was supposed to be there."
"Too bad it's impossible to see who it is," lamented Tom. "I can't even tell if it's a man or a woman."
The unknown figure ventured into a part of the airfield they couldn't see; though they kept watching for several minutes, he or she failed to reappear.
Just as Hal was about to stop the video, someone suddenly entered the footage of the observation room.
"Hey now, who's that?" Hal peered closer, but he was unable to recognize the person. Whoever it was was a woman, but she had her back to the camera and all Hal could see was that she was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and had long black hair.
Then the woman turned, and Tom gasped in recognition.
"That's Debbie!"
Hal frowned, trying to place the name. "Debbie?"
"Debbie Darnell. She started working here around the beginning of the year."
"Oh, yeah, now I remember — I've spoken to her a few times. What on earth was she doing in the observation tower at 5am in the morning?" Hal sounded suspicious, and Tom gaped at him.
"You don't think it was Debbie who tried to kill you?"
Hal shrugged. "I'm not sure. If it was, I don't know what I did to piss her off — but I can't think of a good reason why she would be there two whole hours before anyone else arrived."
"Okay, fair point, but let's see what she does in the footage before we jump to conclusions," Tom said reasonably.
As it turned out, Debbie Darnell did nothing much. She circled the room a few times, spent a while looking out the window, and then left.
"Well, now we know what our next step is," Hal commented after he logged off Carol's computer.
"Oh, boy, here it comes…"
"Let's go have a chat with Ms. Darnell."
Tom groaned, but dutifully followed Hal out the door.
It was another three hours before Batman decided to commence the interrogation. By this time, the only people left on the Watchtower were Batman, Wonder Woman, Zatanna, and Doctor Fate — everyone else had returned to their cities — and Zatanna was chomping at the bit to get some answers.
"About damn time," she exclaimed as she reached to mash the button that would open the door to the interrogation room.
"You —" Batman's hand shot out to block her path. "— are not going in there."
"The hell I'm not!" She was furious.
"Zatanna, the only way we retain our leverage is if we don't show our hand," he told her sternly. "You're incapable of that right now, so you're staying put."
"Bruce, you have five seconds —"
"Stay. Put."
Even though she'd known the Dark Knight of Gotham for far longer than anyone else in the League, Zatanna had rarely ever been subjected to the full force of his commanding Bat-glare, and she could get away with things around him that most heroes wouldn't dare entertain. Today, however, he was giving absolutely no quarter, and Mistress of Magic though she was, she faltered under his stare.
"Fate, keep an eye on her." Satisfied that Zatanna wasn't going to be barging into the interrogation anytime soon, Batman wordlessly gestured for Wonder Woman to accompany him, and the two entered the room together.
"Isn't that sweet," Star Sapphire snickered. She seemed none the worse for the wear for her extended waiting period. "I suppose the couple that interrogates criminals together, stays together?"
Wonder Woman twitched, but Batman knew better than to rise to the bait. He stood opposite the violet villainess, observing her intently.
"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way," he stated simply. "Easy: you tell us what we have to do to reverse the crystallization, and we put in a good word for you when we drop you off at the Coast City penitentiary. Hard: we use the Lasso of Truth, you tell us more than you intend to, and we recommend no privileges in jail."
Star Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "And what if I tell you there's no way to reverse the crystallization?"
"I'd say you're lying, because we've seen it happen."
"Interesting," Star Sapphire commented. "So one of you managed to get out. I didn't think that was possible, but, oh, well."
"Choose, Sapphire." Batman's tone was unyielding. "Easy or hard?"
"Doesn't make a difference. You're not going to like my answer either way. And if you think Coast City's jail can hold me, you've got another think coming."
In response, Batman held up a small chip, about the size of a thumbnail.
"What's that?" asked Star Sapphire suspiciously.
"A neural scrambler. Unlike Green Lantern, you don't wear a ring, but you make your constructs the same way. If you can't concentrate, you can't make constructs, even if you maintain your aura."
"Oh, I see. And you're going to put that in my brain to keep me from using my powers to escape."
"Until we can figure out the source of your powers and how to separate you from it, yes. Exactly how…distracting the scrambler is — that's up to you."
Star Sapphire cocked her head. "Threats, Batman? Is that what it's come to? A ceaseless, painful headache unless I'm a good girl?" She scoffed. "You can't even get a needle near me to get a blood sample. How do you expect to cut my head open to implant that thing?"
"We'll find a way," said Batman with dark certainty. "And that's not a threat." He leaned forward. "It's a promise."
Star Sapphire scowled. "Well, then, I'll make a promise of my own." She glanced at Wonder Woman. "Go ahead and use that fancy lasso on me, but I guarantee you won't get the answers you're looking for. You're so far beyond your jurisdiction you wouldn't even know what questions to ask."
Batman had had enough. "Do it, Wonder Woman."
"With pleasure." Needing no further invitation, the Amazon looped her lasso around Star Sapphire and drew it tight. The rope glowed golden as the magic took effect, flickering slightly as it came into contact with Star Sapphire's hard light aura, but still functional. "How do we free the crystallized men?"
"You can't. Neither can I."
Wonder Woman exchanged a look of shock with Batman. "Say that again," she ordered.
Star Sapphire smirked. "I can't reverse the crystallization even if I wanted to."
"Then who can?" demanded Wonder Woman.
"Only someone with a fully functional Star Sapphire ring. Which — oops —" Star Sapphire raised her empty right hand. "— I don't have." She grinned. "Told you you wouldn't like my answer."
Wonder Woman had to work to restrain her temper at the villainess' attitude. "And where can we find someone with a Star Sapphire ring?"
"Zamaron."
Batman frowned. Zamaron again. Somehow, that mysterious planet was at the center of this whole scenario.
Wonder Woman's eyes narrowed. "Tell me everything you know about Zamaron."
"It's a planet in galactic Sector 0001. It's very old. Only female inhabitants." Star Sapphire abruptly stopped.
Wonder Woman tugged at the lasso. "And?"
"And I can't tell you anything else." Star Sapphire looked smug.
"The lasso compels you."
"True, but something else is compelling me more strongly not to say anything. So there you go."
Wonder Woman gritted her teeth. "What is compelling you?"
"Can't say that either. Boy, this really puts a crimp in your interrogation, huh?"
"I will have the truth from you," growled Wonder Woman, tugging more forcefully on the lasso. She refused to believe that hard light could interfere with the power of the Olympian gods themselves.
Unfortunately, no matter how she rephrased the question, Star Sapphire would not — could not? — say anymore. It frustrated Wonder Woman immensely.
"I think we're done here," Batman said as the seething Amazon reluctantly removed the lasso from Star Sapphire. He pocketed the neural scrambler chip and walked out. A disgruntled Wonder Woman followed a few seconds later.
"Ta!" Star Sapphire called after them.
"What do you mean, she's not here?" Hal demanded.
The chief analyst, a man by the name of Godwin, looked annoyed. "Exactly what I said, Jordan. Debbie Darnell hasn't been in to work since the Peregrine flight test. Ms. Ferris herself was asking about her yesterday."
"I see."
"Do you know where we might be able to find her?" Tom asked.
"If I did, I would've already gone there to fire her. Now if you'd excuse me, I have work to do."
"Well, what do you make of that?" Hal said to Tom as Godwin bustled off. "Darnell's looking guiltier by the minute."
"It really is starting to look like she sabotaged the Peregrine and then ran to avoid being found out," Tom admitted. "But now we're stuck."
"Maybe not," Hal said thoughtfully. "I'll use my U.S.A.F. clearance to run a search through some databases, see what I can find out about her. I'll let you know what I find."
"Good luck," Tom wished him.
"Let me at her," Zatanna demanded. "I'll use my magic — play around with her mind a little — I'm sure I can make her more cooperative…"
"Absolutely not," Batman said sternly. "Reading thoughts is one thing, Zatanna, but manipulating someone's mind is a line which should never be crossed."
"Don't get sanctimonious with me, Bruce — I think the circumstances justify it."
"No, they don't. Besides, what good would it do? Star Sapphire herself can't reverse the stasis."
"But she's not telling us everything, either," Zatanna pointed out. "Somehow, impossibly, she circumvented the Lasso of Truth."
"I'm not entirely sure that was her doing. From what she said, it seems that there's something else influencing her, preventing her from speaking — possibly the same thing which gives her her powers."
"We may yet get answers from her voluntarily once we figure out how to implant the neural scrambler," offered Doctor Fate. "However, I believe it is imperative that we discover all we can about Zamaron. I do not think we are going to resolve this situation without that knowledge."
"I agree," said Wonder Woman. "My lasso has never failed before. Anyone or anything which can interfere with its power most definitely warrants a thorough investigation."
"And we will," Batman promised. "But the only place we can look for answers right now is the library on Oa, and we can't go there."
"But Green Lantern can," Wonder Woman pointed out.
"Exactly."
Night was falling by the time John decided to return to the Stewart apartment. After the day he'd had — what with making his official public appearance, meeting three Justice League members, and fighting his first supervillain — he debated taking the bus, just for the semblance of something normal, but decided against it. Having a public identity made things easy for him because he didn't have to hide, but at the same time it meant that everybody in Detroit and their grandma knew who he was. He was in no mood to put up with people's curious glances and questions should he join the crowd of working people on their way home — the press had already hounded him enough today. All he wanted to do was have a hot shower and chat with Rex. His Marine buddy was finally leaving for Chicago tomorrow, with every intention of proposing to his lady love, and John wasn't about to let him go without a few celebratory beers.
He was halfway home when his ring beeped with a Priority One message from his GL Corps mentor.
"Stewart, get your ass to Oa now!" ordered Katma. "Sinestro's back!"
A/N: And so the plot heats up again. We're reaching the home strait now - just a few more chapters to go. I'll see you all again sometime after Christmas! Until then, Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and please do leave a review on your way out!