Chapter 13 – Open Sesame

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The invisible plane burst out of the water and the inky blackness below the waves was replaced by the starry blackness above.  I glanced at the moon and immediately looked away.  Even at this distance, I could see the blackened scar where the Watchtower had stood.

"Oracle," Batman muttered, "talk to us."

"I've got an approximate fix, someplace in upstate Gotham.  I'll be able to tighten that up as they get closer.  From your point of view, the best target is the shuttle out of Camp Lejeune.  I've sent coordinates directly to the plane," she added as the invisible plane banked and started accelerating.  "You shouldn't have any trouble overtaking them; those shuttles can only do Mach 4."

"Acknowledged."

We had a few minutes until we intercepted the shuttle.  Mindful of our company in the back, I murmured, "I am concerned about Supergirl.  She has so much anger bottled up inside her."

"Yes."  Surprisingly, a corner of Batman's mouth turned up in a smile.  "Nightwing says she reminds him of 'The Angry Young Man'."

"Angry young woman, surely?" I asked in confusion.

"You're not a Billy Joel fan," Batman stated.

"Are you?"

"Nightwing."  Bruce sighed.  "I must have memorized the lyrics to every one of his songs.  Not intentionally, just due to repetition.

"At any rate, he thinks a dose of reality will bring her out of it.  He's putting her in charge of the kids."  He meant the members of Young Justice, I knew.  "He thinks that will force her to think of something besides her anger."  He shrugged, not entirely convinced, but added, "I trust Nightwing's judgment."

I nodded.  "He may well be right."

"By the way, you can make the invisible plane turn into any shape you want?"

I nodded, wondering where he was going.

"Even small enough to fit under your finger nail?"

I was taken aback.  "I don't see any reason why not, but…."

"What?"

"Well," I smiled sweetly, "since we have several minutes to pass, I was wondering if you would sing 'Uptown Girl'?"

The look on his face was priceless.  I tried to suppress my laughter, but I doubt he found my muffled guffaws any improvement.  It didn't help that my choking caught the attention of the congressmen.

By the time that was resolved, I suspect Bruce was overjoyed to hear Oracle say:  "You're closing up on the Camp Lejeune shuttle.  Get ready, folks!"

Zabrowski asked, "What are you going to do?"

Batman ignored him.  He turned to me.  "Get the plane as close above the shuttle as possible.  Once I'm aboard, I'll open the hatch and you can ferry the congressmen and the duffle over."

I raised my eyebrows.  "Are you planning to jump onto the shuttle?  I can fly, why shouldn't I do it?"

"Because we can't leave evidence that anything's amiss."

"Fine," I said, "we both can do it."

I grabbed him under the arms and carried us both out of the plane.  A little ahead and several hundred feet below us, I could make out the HDC shuttle.

"Land me on top of the shuttle just behind the wind shield," snarled Batman.  Smiling, I did as he asked.

I heard a 'snick' and metal claws popped out of the fingertips of his left gauntlet.  He dug them into the hull of the shuttle while his right hand rummaged in his utility belt.  He pulled out an electric drill with a diamond tip so small I could barely see it and proceeded to drill a miniscule hole into the hull.  He pulled the drill out, stowed it in his utility belt and pulled out a small gas canister.  He fitted the nozzle of the canister over the minute hole and turned the stopcock.

He turned and smiled grimly.  "Now the hatch…"

Suddenly the shuttle pitched down and went into a power dive.  Only his claws kept Batman from being thrown off.  I was taken by surprise and had to dive after it.

"The idiot must have shut down the autopilot," snarled Batman.  I didn't wait to hear what else he had to say.  Instead, I flew past him and under the nose of the shuttle.  I misjudged its speed and the shuttle nose slammed into my back.  I ignored the pain and lifted.  The strain was terrible and I could not exert my full strength without risking shattering the shuttle's hull.  We were still losing altitude and I could see the ground rushing up to meet us.  I pushed harder and harder, listening for the sound of the hull girders straining towards their breaking point.

We were starting to come out of the dive but the ground was getting dangerously close.  I pushed harder still.  The strain was incredible and the hull girders started groaning, warning me they could not take much more of this.  Finally we leveled off, with perhaps two hundred feet to spare.  Not even close, I thought, by JLA standards.  I had to maintain the pressure, as the shuttle still wanted to immolate itself against the ground.

Then suddenly the pressure disappeared and we started climbing again.  I let go and flew around the shuttle.  I spotted an open hatch on the side of the shuttle and flew in.  In the main section, a score of HDC soldiers sat in their seats, unconscious but held in place by their seat belts.  Forward, I saw the copilot slumped over in his seat, the pilot in a heap on the deck next to him.  In the pilot's seat sat the Batman, steering with one hand while the other pulled something out of his utility belt.

"… say again, Bravo One-niner, what happened?  You disappeared off the radar for almost a minute there."

Batman replied with a reedy voice and a definite twang, "Fox Base, this is Bravo One-Niner.  We had a temporary problem with the autopilot.  All fixed now."

He pulled out a hypo spray and pressed it to the neck of the copilot while saying, in the same voice, just loud enough to be heard over the radio,  "Do anything that stupid again and I promise you, you'll be up on charges.  You understand me, soldier?"

Louder, he continued,  "Everything's fine now."  The copilot started to stir.

The voice on the radio sounded suspicious now.  "Bravo One-niner, I need a security check.  Delta-Tango-Charlie-eight-Echo."

Batman jerked his head towards the now awakening copilot.  I pulled out my lasso and dropped a loop over him.

"Well, if you insist, Fox Base.  Just a moment."  Batman turned to look at me.  I whispered in the copilot's ear, then quietly repeated what he told me.

More loudly, Batman repeated, "Alpha-Romeo-seven-two-Hotel."

A moment of silence, then, "That is correct, Bravo One-niner.  Your ETA is eleven minutes."

"Roger, Fox Base.  Bravo One-niner out."

In his own voice, Batman hissed, "Get the congressmen and the duffle, now!"

By the time I returned with all three objects, the pilot was gone and Batman was dragging the once-more-unconscious copilot towards the back of the shuttle.

Batman grabbed the duffle.  "Your plane?" he demanded.  I held up one thumb, indicating that the invisible plane was safely stowed under the thumbnail.

Batman grunted.  "Secure the soldiers and their equipment in the cargo hold."

I picked up a couple of soldiers and headed for the back of the shuttle.  Behind me, I could hear Batman talking to the congressmen.

"Senator, you've served in the Reserves, so you'll be my aide.  Here's a clipboard.  Make appropriate scribbles when I tell you to.  You're a first lieutenant.  Congressman, you're a private.  All you have to do is looked bored and speak only when spoken to, ending every sentence with 'sir' or – if they have stripes on their sleeve – 'sergeant'."

By the time I had the soldiers comfortably stowed in the cargo hold, the two congressmen had donned their uniforms and looked (more or less) their parts.  Batman was fiddling with something that looked like a high-tech suit of armor.  He glanced up.

"You'll need help with this power suit."  He handed me the suit and led me into the pilot's compartment, the duffle over his shoulder.  He closed the door behind us.

I stripped out of my uniform.  Batman shot me a short intense look, then pulled panties and a sports bra out of the duffle.  I put them on and he helped me climb into the power suit.  It was bulky, covering the entire torso, with rods and pulleys extending down the limbs and ending in heavy metal gauntlets and boots.  It was also clearly designed for a man.

"I tried to make a little extra room for you," Batman told me, sounding almost apologetic.  I could see that he had removed some components, but it was still extremely tight and painful.

"Mind if I make a little more room?" I asked.

"Be my guest."

I reached inside, snapped off a flange that had been cutting deeply into my right breast and, with a steady pressure, flattened a sharp corner.

"Better."

The rods and pulleys needed adjustment to fit my limbs.  As he was dealing with that, Batman explained, "With the suit, a man can punch through a concrete wall.  It also protects the torso from conventional gunfire."

"I can already punch through a concrete wall," I reminded him.

"Which is why we can get rid of all this," he said, opening up a panel in the front of the suit and ripping out wiring and components.  He quickly reconnected two loose wires and then took off his utility belt and stuffed it inside.  My bracelets and lasso followed, along with two pairs of black gloves.

"Good," he grunted.  He tossed me a uniform with sergeant's stripes on the sleeves, followed by gloves and oversized boots.

"I don't want the suit showing.  It's our secret weapon."

Since I doubted it still worked and I didn't need it in the first place, I wasn't sure how this could be but nodded anyway.

"This will bleach your hair."  He tossed me a bottle.  "Use it before you put the uniform on, it'll eat right through the fabric."  He added, "You might not want to get it on your skin, either."

I smiled at this afterthought.  "My skin is tough," I assured him.

"You've got four minutes."

By the time I got out, Batman had completed his own transformation.  He had gained forty pounds, all in an impressive beer belly, and his hair was reduced to a gray fringe surrounding a shiny pate.  There were age spots on his skin.  He wore the single star of a brigadier general on his collar.

He looked me over.  "It'll have to do," he told me and handed me a package of gum.  "Take a piece."

I took a piece of gum and popped it into my mouth.  I started chewing.  He put the package in my pocket.

"It's bubble gum," he told me.  "You know how to blow bubbles?"

I thought back to a happier time, when Vanessa Kapatellis showed me how to blow bubbles, and nodded.

"If anyone looks at you, blow a bubble."

There was a distinct 'thunk' as the shuttle, controlled by the autopilot, landed.  Batman ignored it.  "Turn around."

I turned around and he pulled my hair back into a ponytail.  He used a couple of rubber bands to hold my hair in place.  At the same time, he spoke to the two congressmen.

"At some point, we'll probably have guns pointed at us.  Just stay calm and don't forget your role."

Zabrowski looked frankly terrified; even Connelly started to look worried.

"Don't worry," I told them, "we won't let anybody shoot you."

"We need you as witnesses," Batman added.

The two congressmen did not look comforted.

There was a banging on the hatch.

"Showtime," Batman muttered.  He looked at the two Congressmen, "Remember your roles.  If in doubt, say nothing and leave it to me."

He glanced at me.  "Chew."  I started chewing again.

Batman pulled a document out of his pocket and hit the button next to the hatch.

The hatch opened and a young man with a clipboard and the two stripes of a corporal entered.  He looked at Batman and stopped.  He looked around.  His gaze fixed on me for a moment.  Remembering my instructions, I blew a bubble.  It popped loudly, snapping him out of his momentary paralysis.

"You're not second platoon, Charlie Company," he stuttered.

Batman stared down his nose at him.  "I am General Douglas Peabody of the Inspector General's office.  This," he waved the document in front of the young man, "is an order signed by the Inspector General himself, ordering me to me to conduct a surprise inspection of this facility.  I am now ordering you to take me directly to the commanding officer of this facility without informing anyone that a surprise inspection is in progress."

The young man looked stunned.  "But, but…."

"What part of that simple order," Batman demanded, "did you not understand?"

The corporal snapped to attention and saluted.  "Yes sir!"  Then he hesitated.  "I'll have to take you through the security screening, sir.  Everyone has to be screened."

"Of course," replied Batman majestically.  "Security is one of the things I am here to inspect."

The young man nodded and turned around.  We followed him out of the shuttle.

"Open Sesame," I murmured softly.  Batman looked at me and an eyelid quivered in an almost wink.

Ali Baba, I recalled, had found getting in far easier than getting back out again.