Chapter 6
3:53 p.m. EDT
Silver Spring, Maryland
Julie Todd's mind was focused on about a dozen different things, so much so she almost forgot the most important of them all.
Julie pulled out her phone to call her teammates, then thought to send a text to the group, allowing Marcus Stewart to see it as well.
TEAM NEED TO GO TO VOICE CHAT NOW
Moments later, Brooke Conners replied:
ME AND DORNEY IN MTAC AT DIRECTORS REQUEST
Carl Long followed up with:
HEADED UP TO MTAC WE CAN PULL OUT
Marcus followed up a few moments later
NO STAY THERE WE'LL TALK AFTER
Julie sighed. She really wanted to talk with everyone and make sure they were all on the same page, but if Drake had ordered the others up to MTAC, that meant he wanted them there.
An invasion of refugees that looked like something out of a movie is as good a reason as any, she thought.
She looked at the dogs and at the cat, and spoke to the house A.I. "Computa, keep the boys and girls out of trouble," she said aloud in her living room, going through her gear bag to make sure nothing was missing from it. Her 'kids' – the dogs and cat – watched her nearby from the kitchen.
"Your wish is my command, Juliana," replied the computer voice, which sounded a lot like the Siri artificial intelligence used on the Apple computers and communicators. Computa itself – herself – was an advanced A.I. created by WayneTech; there was a base version sold to the public, and variant versions with higher levels of security for government, military and high-ranking corporate users, and another variant for those in law enforcement.
Julie's house had the variant developed for federal agents, with a twist: it contained highly advanced technology – as in nearly ten centuries from now – hidden in plain sight, as part of the base 'Fed' model. Julie knew Bruce Wayne himself had overseen the installation; how he got it was the question. She knew Wayne was the Batman, and she suspected he probably 'borrowed' it during one of the Justice League's missions in the far future, probably to the late 30th century. Wayne never told her or Marcus that, but she always suspected it to be the case based on the nickname Wayne bestowed on the A.I.
It had been years, for her, since she and her twin sister were 'invited' to go on a wild trip to that far future destination. She and Kate found herself among dozens of super-powerful teenagers, plus Superboy himself, a Supergirl, and a few other 20th-century teenagers she didn't know, one of them a young Marcus Stewart.
The memories from that brief time in the future had come back slowly, over the years, to Julie. It was more like a trip to another planet than another time. She wondered what happened to those kids and if she and Marcus would ever see them again…
Me and Marcus. Marcus and I.
Me and Kate. Kate and I.
Oh, God.
Julie pushed aside any thought not strictly on business. Computa would take care of her kids as always, so she herself could focus on the job.
"Should I appear in Nice Old Lady Mode?", Computa asked, her too-pleasant voice filling the house.
"That's fine," Julie said, and a hologram of a 5-foot-8, slim Asian-American woman appeared in the living room. Computa would then speak through the hologram.
"Usual protocol," Julie said. "Don't answer the door. If the bad guys break in call the Navy Yard and alert me. I should be back tonight."
"I'll feed and water the pets," Computa said. "I'll even sing to them."
"You don't have to do that," Julie said, looking at the clock on her phone counting down from five minutes to zero. Her ride was less than two minutes out.
"I have a lovely singing voice, I've been told, far lovelier than your own."
"Who on Earth told you that?"
"Katie Yates. She told me my singing voice was lovely and that you, quote, 'can't sing worth a lick'—"
"She doesn't know what she's talking about," Julie interjected, rolling her eyes. "Gotta go. Make sure you feed and water the kids."
"Always, Juliana. Are you at liberty to discuss what you have been called to?" Computa asked, and Julie saw the image of her dead sister flash in her mind.
"Later, Computa. Gotta go." Julie went out the front door of her house, taking one last look at her – and Marcus's – pets, all of whom were watching from the kitchen.
A minute later, she saw a Marine Bell Twin Huey helicopter land in the middle of the street. She yelled thanks to the Silver Springs police officers who had blocked both ends of the street so the helicopter could land. They'd be at RFK in less than 15 minutes.
