Amelia Airheart waited in the lobby to be received by Brainiac 5. "Mr. Dox will see you now," a secretary told her. Amelia immediately got up and made her way to his office.

"Lieutenant Airheart...have a seat," Brainiac 5 offered as she entered. "I'm told you want to navigate to Mercury and back."

"I do," Amelia confirmed.

"Why do you want to fly?" Brainiac 5 questioned.

"Why? Well...why does a man want to ride a horse?" she said awkwardly.

Brainiac 5 merely stared at her. "Because he wants to?" he assumed. "If you are successful, you will be the first woman to do so which is the real attraction for both of us."

"Always nice to know what the real attraction is," Amelia said sarcastically.

"The queen would prefer an American, well-spoken, and physically attractive for this mission," Brainiac 5 said bluntly.

"Why would that matter?" Amelia asked offended.

"Because she wants the world to pay attention and pretty girls command more attention," Brainiac 5 said obviously.

"Was that your advice?" Amelia asked shocked and appalled.

"There will be a contract for the girl's story with the Daily Planet, a book will be published under her name, and a promotion in the works," Brainiac 5 said.

"Sounds great," Amelia smiled.

"Don't get your hopes up. The ship will be piloted by Lieutenant Stultz and co-piloted by Lieutenant Gordon. You will only be a passenger," Brainiac 5 told her.

"Why would anyone read a book about a woman that is a mere passenger?" Amelia asked dumbfounded.

"The hook is that the woman will be the ship's commander, that the flight will be under your control, and it will be your flight," Brainiac 5 replied.

"Sounds like fraud," Amelia shook her head.

"It is," Brainiac 5 allowed.

"This is far from what I envisioned," Amelia said disappointed.

"Your level of flight experience wouldn't put you anywhere near the top of the list to be considered for this mission. Let me be clear, I give the orders and you take them. If you do as you're told, you will be a star," Brainiac 5 told her.

"Spoken like a drone," Amelia noted.

"Lieutenant," Brainiac 5 dismissed her.

"Mr. Dox," Amelia replied back and then departed from his office befuddled.

Boston

Brainiac 5 escorted Amelia to Boston where the ship was being worked on inside a hangar. Even though Boston was technically in another country from that of Metropolis, all ranks were universally acknowledged across the planet. While all three of them were 2nd lieutenants, Amelia was "assigned" to be their commander even though she had less time in grade than the other two. For obvious reasons, this was a WTF moment for the other two. The craft in question was a new Artemis-Class fighter. The Artemis had two slopping wings, two frontal laser canons, and a cockpit in the center. The fighter was 28 meters in width, wingtip to wingtip. (Death Glider from Stargate)

"Gentlemen, your new commander, Lieutenant Airheart," Brainiac 5 introduced. "Lieutenant Gordon, your navigator. Lieutenant Stultz, your pilot."

Amelia immediately noticed that escape pods were being attached to the ship. "How much fuel do you lose because of these? Why have them?"

"The queen wants to protect her personnel should something happen in space," Brainiac 5 explained.

"Those should be decisions I should make, not her. I'm making this trip, not her," Amelia protested.

"But she owns the ship," Brainiac 5 said condescendingly.

"Hard to say it but the queen owns everything, and she decides what goes up into space," Lt. Stultz told her as she circled the craft.

"My job was to try to figure out how to keep ships moving without fuel," Amelia said.

The two lieutenants gave WTF looks wondering what to make of her.

The Artemis fighter was eventually taken out of the hangar and placed in the harbor where it floated on the water. The three lieutenants worked to do last-minute maintenance on the fighter and stock up on supplies. "Make sure reporters are there when she lands," Brainiac 5 ordered The Daily Planet editor.

Amelia went up to Brainiac 5 with three envelopes with handwritten letters. "Letters for my dad, my mom, and my sis," she explained as she gave them to him. "You know...in case."

"Of course," Brainiac 5 said sympathetically.

"Pray that I make it," Amelia smiled.

"I'm not much of a praying man," Brainiac 5 admitted.

"Then, cross your fingers," Amelia said.

Brainiac 5 humored her by crossing his fingers. "Well...see ya," Amelia said and then departed.

"See ya," Brainiac 5 replied.

With all three inside, the Artemis fighter attempted to get off the ground only to stall in the water. "Looks like we have a real problem here, commander. When you figure it out, you let us know," Lt. Stultz told her.

That night, Lt. Stultz and Lt. Gordon got drunk as fuck at the local bar while mocking Amelia's first attempt. The failure of the launch caught Kara's notice in Metropolis.

In the early morning, Kara and Amelia barged into Lt. Stultz and Lt. Gordon's quarters. "Attention on deck!" Amelia shouted, waking them both up.

"Holy shit, what the fuck?" they both said as they scrambled to get out of bed.

"Rise and shine, time to fly," Kara told them both.

"Your Majesty, the weather report is not ideal," Lt. Stultz said as he stood at attention in his underwear.

"It's a fucking Artemis-class fighter, a fucking space-fighter. Weather is irrelevant," Kara yelled at him. "There should be no reason for that fighter to fail to launch. I designed that fighter. Mr. Dox has given me assurances there's nothing wrong with it. Which means, you fucked up on purpose! Now, you're going to launch today, or I'll make sure you never fly again. Am I clear!"

"Yes, Ma'am," Lt. Stulz said flabbergasted.

"Why the fuck are you hungover? Only I get to be hungover before a launch," Kara eyed him.

"Well...I," Lt. Stultz muttered.

"Gordon, get the fuck out of here and do your checks," Kara ordered. He awkwardly took his clothes and suitcase out of the room while still in his underwear. Kara then narrowed her eyes on Lt. Stultz. "I've loved only one man unconditionally. He's the most caring, most generous, and funniest guy I've ever met. He's my adopted father. He also killed a shit-ton of people without hesitation or remorse. I wanted to be just like him when I grew up and so far, I've succeeded. So, it behooves you, not to fuck with me."

Kara then turned to Amelia. "Report to Mr. Dox if you have any further issues."

On the second attempt, the Artemis fighter easily launched up into the sky and entered outer space. "We're up! Good work!" Amelia said to her pilots. Soon thereafter, the radio on the fighter failed.

"The computer is fucked up," Lt. Stultz realized.

At the palace in Metropolis, Kara and Brainiac 5 monitored the radio communications. "We've lost contact with Airheart," Brainiac 5 reported.

"Well...shit," Kara said disappointedly.

Nineteen hours later, all three lieutenants had no idea where they were. "Without the computer, there's no way to compute where the fuck we're going," Lt. Stultz said.

"We should...probably go left," Lt. Gordon said helpfully.

"If we turn back the way we came, we could get rescued," Lt. Stultz said.

"And a failure. Fuck that," Amelia objected.

Amelia exited the cockpit only for the fighter to experience a sudden jolt from the engine. "Go help her," Lt. Stultz rolled his eyes. Lt. Gordon went back just as one of the escape pods malfunctioned and jettisoned off. The two were nearly sucked out into space instantly. The two struggled to stay inside the fighter as everything got sucked out. The automatic doors then closed giving them a seal.

Finally, the pilots came upon a heavily cratered rocky body and figured it was Mercury. They descended down towards the planet and entered a spaceport. Upon landing, they were greeted by enthusiastic enlisted men who gave her a song. Amelia and the two pilots greeted the crowd and met with the spaceport administrator.

"Is it Mercury tradition to greet new pilots with song?" Amelia asked.

"I couldn't say. This is the moon," he replied.

Metropolis

Despite the epic fail, the Daily Planet was able to spin the news into a success story. Amelia was the first woman to reach the moon via an Artemis-class fighter...and that was still something. In Metropolis, Amelia and her two pilots were given a street parade. Amelia was now a celebrity pilot and an inspiration for young girls. Afterward, Brainiac 5 did a number of photo-ops with Amelia while counseling her two pilots to keep their mouths shut. As far as anyone knew, the flight was always meant for the moon, not Mercury. Amelia was then promoted to 1st Lieutenant.

Brainiac 5 ordered Amelia to go into the lecture circuit to talk to women professionals about her experiences. "What did your mother think when you flew to the moon?" one woman asked.

"She sent me a text message congratulating me and then she said she wants to sit next to me in the cockpit on the next one," Amelia joked.

"How did it feel to fly in space?" another asked.

"It's not like flying in the atmosphere where you can see and feel up and down. In space, there is no such thing. Space felt like a simple, safe, and beautiful place. It felt like heaven," Amelia answered.

In Metropolis, Amelia was obliged to go to a royal party hosted by Mon-El. Mon made small talk with Brainiac 5 before making contact with her. "Couldn't you have found a girl...more attractive...perhaps?" Mon complained.

"Kara gave me strict orders that she was not to be more attractive than her," Brainiac 5 said defensively.

"I understand that...but damn," Mon said dismayed. "Are you sure she's the first woman or the first boy to land on the moon in an Artemis fighter?"

Amelia then approached them, oblivious to their conversation. "Lieutenant Amelia Airheart," Brainiac 5 introduced her and then walked off.

"How do you do?" Mon asked with false sincerity.

"Quite well, Your Majesty," Amelia said starstruck.

"I understand you're writing a book with the tutelage of the great master," Mon said referring to Brainiac 5.

"Yes," Amelia nodded.

"You, enjoying your stay here?" Mon asked.

"I'm a bit out of my element. The distance between my world and your world is like the distance between the sun and the moon," Amelia said awkwardly.

"We may be from different worlds, but we may have a lot in common. I'm a pilot, myself. I teach fighter pilots at West Point," Mon said.

"Then, I have much to learn from you," Amelia said brightly.

"Well, you have the Insane part down," Mon smiled.

In an ironic twist, Brainiac 5's desire to make Amelia the poster girl for women's flying prevented any other woman from surpassing her. Brainiac 5 intentionally sabotaged the efforts of any other female pilot to advance their careers past Amelia. In a race across continental America, Amelia piloted an Artemis fighter by herself. In this race, only female pilots were allowed to fly with Amelia heavily favored to be first.

In the atmosphere, the Artemis fighter was safely capable of 12000 Km/hour or Mach 10. In space, the Artemis fighter's base speed was 12.5 million km per hour with a maximum impulse drive of 35 million km per hour. Kara, Mon, and Brainiac 5 were all present at the race's starting point. After learning of the new route, Amelia confronted the three about it.

"Your Majesty, you can't end our route right before the Rocky Mountains," Amelia protested.

"Did we do that?" Kara asked Brainiac 5.

"It's to avoid any of the pilots from crashing into the mountains," Brainiac 5 said simply.

"That rule wasn't in place for men's races," Amelia pointed out.

"Yeah, women are different. Under no circumstances can we put women in danger. They're special, pure, and rare like a gleaming diamond or a snow-white colt. We must protect them. If any woman crashed and burned in this race, it would break my heart. Men fly so women don't have to. Women's sensitive psyches should not be subjected to the stress of flying. Their pure thoughts should be oriented towards the kitchen, child-rearing, and romance novels," Mon said.

Kara simply stared at him and then back to a flabbergasted Amelia. "The route will be changed," she assured her.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Amelia smiled and then went back to her fighter.

As it happened, Amelia ended up getting third which wasn't bad. That said, all the civilian female pilots were slow as fuck compared to their professional military male counterparts in the same fighter. Some of them did crash and burn. Still, there were roaring crowds celebrating the feat. "How does it feel to earn third?" a reporter asked.

"Any woman's victory is a victory for me," Amelia replied. She then got on stage to introduce her new association. "I'm proud to form a new organization dedicated to women pilots and since 99 applied...we're calling ourselves the Ninety-nine," Amelia announced. "And we're going to fly forever."

Not long afterward, Amelia had a new pitch for Brainiac 5 in his office. "I want to fly to Mercury," she said.

"You already did, sort of, not really," Brainiac 5 reminded her.

"I want to do it solo," Amelia insisted.

"No one goes on a space-mission solo, not even men," Brainiac 5 objected.

"I'll make it. I know I will," Amelia said confidently.

"And if you don't?" Brainiac 5 tested.

"I'd rather die in space than keep living as a fraud," Amelia admitted.

"Well, okay then," Brainiac 5 agreed.

On the eve of her flight, Brainiac 5 supervised the checks and maintenance of the Artemis fighter. "You will dock with the Mercury base where you will then be transported back to Earth," Brainiac 5 ordered. "Make sure you do your part."

"Don't worry. I got this," Amelia said confidently.

"You look sleepy," Brainiac 5 noted.

"I'll nap on the way," she said dismissively.

"Well, okay then," Brainiac 5 allowed.

On her own this time, Amelia flew off into space and in the direction of the sun. As she came closer to Mercury, the Artemis' shields deflected the solar wind. The brightness of the sun became too much requiring her to activate the shield doors over the windows. Flying blind, Amelia had to rely on the computer for navigation. A small fire occurred in the engine compartment that was quickly extinguished. After several hours of nerve-wracking space travel, Amelia finally made it to Mercury. However, she ended up landing on the other side of the planet away from the base causing complications.

However, despite this error, Amelia was considered a female hero for her flight and was celebrated by the Daily Planet. Amelia was then transported back to Earth. Upon arriving back, the Crown made good use of her to promote the progressiveness of the regime. Amelia was slightly agitated at being used as a political prop by the government in this way.

At a flying lecture, Amelia signed autographs and then met a young boy from the second level reaching down to her. "What's your name?" Amelia asked curiously of the boy as only women and girls had crowded around her.

"Kon," he replied.

"That's an unusual name," Amelia remarked.

"I know," he acknowledged.

"We blame his mother," Mon interjected.

From that time on, Mon escorted Amelia around as a protector of sort. "You look so much prettier than your photograph," Mon said to her.

"I'm not sure how to take that," Amelia admitted.

"You, writing a new book?" Mon asked curiously.

"If Mr. Dox has anything to say about it," Amelia rolled her eyes.

Mon then transported Amelia back to her home with Kon asleep in the back. "It seems all so silly compared to what other men and women endure, enlisted men and women," Amelia said sympathetically as she watched them line up to go to a factory.

"You're in the spotlight now. Enjoy it while it lasts," Mon advised. "Just remember where you came from."

"A Kansas girl?" Amelia questioned.

"A lot of exciting things have come out of Kansas," Mon said knowingly.

Amelia proceeded to make a successful female solo flight to Mars and back. She was celebrated as a female hero by the Crown and went to a number of high-profile parties. Mon continued to eye Amelia with desire and even had mostly civil conversations with her at these parties. "The Charon-class shuttle is the future, sending passengers all across the solar system and to other systems," Mon said to her. "I want you to accompany me on these trips."

"What do you need me for?" Amelia asked confused.

"You're the most famous woman in the world, that's why," Mon said obviously. "There are some humans that don't feel comfortable with an Insane man running these flight operations. That's why I need you."

"I don't know. Sometimes, I feel like giving all of this up, getting married, having kids, settling down on a farm," Amelia said exhaustedly.

"And here I thought you wanted to be one of the boys," Mon mocked.

"I may have at one time but not anymore," Amelia shook her head.

"Well, if you want to be treated like a woman, you can come to my room," Mon offered.

Amelia followed Mon into the elevator and began to make out with him despite the fact he was married with children. They then slept together in his hotel suite.

From that point on, Amelia worked with Mon to advertise the Charon-class shuttle craft that was capable of transporting hundreds of passengers and cargo from one planet to another. Still, the affair with Mon was taking its toll. She met Mon at an expensive restaurant in Metropolis. "You are America's sweetheart of the skies, the wife, mother, and daughter men wished they had. You should keep that going while you still can," Mon complimented.

"Thanks for the tip," Amelia replied curtly.

"You're defensive," Mon detected.

"I've decided to resign as your consultant for the Charon shuttle branch. Being linked to the Crown, to you, does more harm to my image than anything else," Amelia said scornfully as she stood up to him.

"Oh, fuck me, right?" Mon asked offended.

"And that's over, too," Amelia added. "You and the queen have conquered this planet and you use me as a propaganda tool for your regime. All I want to do is fly. I'm going to fly to the edge of the solar system and back."

"It can't be done...by a woman," Mon doubted.

"Well, I'm going to try and I'm going back to Barney," Amelia told him.

Mon stood up to her. "You can't do that," he said, staring her down.

Amelia was not intimidated and simply left.

At the palace, Kara, Mon, and Brainiac 5 discussed Amelia's plan. "I say we let her do it. Fuck the risks," Kara said.

"You may not care if she dies, but it will be a big blow to female spaceflight," Mon pointed out.

"Like you give a shit," Kara rolled her eyes dismissively.

"If she manages to pull it off, it will be a plus for all of humanity," Brainiac 5 said.

"The journey to the Heliopause and back is beyond the abilities of the Artemis. It doesn't even have a warp drive," Mon argued.

"She's aware of the danger and she's studied the route," Brainiac 5 said in her defense.

"If she runs into trouble, she's fucked out there," Mon said adamantly.

"There's a base on Pluto for maintenance and refueling," Brainiac 5 said as he activated a hologram of the solar system showing various outposts already constructed.

"Pluto is really tiny, difficult to spot, even more so to land on," Mon pointed out.

"You, talking shit about my favorite planet?" Kara asked wide-eyed.

"Dwarf planet," Brainiac 5 corrected.

"It would be like a grain of sand in the middle of the ocean," Mon objected.

"She'll have Fred Noon, one of the best human navigators," Brainiac 5 said.

"That means...shit, Barney. Why aren't you going?" Mon asked. "Fred is a drunk, FYI."

"This needs to be a purely human accomplishment," Kara said.

"That sounds like bullshit," Mon scoffed.

Kara advanced on Mon. "I know what you two have been doing. If she dies...she dies."

"Well, finally, we cut through the bullshit," Mon nodded.

"Her fate will be the same as all of your other dolls," Kara said darkly. She then turned to Brainiac 5. "But there will be no sabotage this time. Make sure she has everything she needs for this trip."

Amelia and Fred took to the skies and landed on Mars for their first checkpoint. There, in front of the Native Martians, Amelia crashed the Artemis fighter on the runway as it failed to take off. The Daily Planet mocked her for it and the Martians were unimpressed. The Artemis fighter was totaled and would need to be replaced. Amelia went back to Earth and regrouped.

Despite the epic fail, Kara continued to allocate resources to the project. In the hangar, Amelia was interviewed by Daily Planet reporters. "Have you considered, Captain Airheart, that this trip outweighs your ability as demonstrated by the disaster on Mars," one smug-ass reporter asked. "People are saying you're reckless, a better celebrity than pilot."

"Enthusiastic but not reckless. That was a mechanical error, not a pilot error. I fly for the fun of it. That's all," Amelia said and then accepted roses from a young girl. "A future space cadet."

Afterward, Brainiac 5 took Amelia aside. "There are forces at work beyond your comprehension against you. Don't feel the need to speed or break any records. Just come back to us."

"I will, Barney," Amelia smiled. "See-ya."

Brainiac 5 merely stared as Amelia got into her new Artemis fighter and took off.

On her second trip, Amelia flew to Mars and took off from Mars without incident. Her next stop was an outpost on Calisto, a moon of Jupiter. Upon landing on the moon's smooth icy surface, Amelia and Fred saw incredible views of Jupiter. On her next stop, Amelia landed on an outpost on Titan, a moon of Saturn. There, she went through the hazy clouds of the moon and managed to land without issue. Inside the base, Amelia and Fred could see the tan sand dunes and the methane lakes out the window while they had drinks.

"You look beat, lady," Fred remarked, totally sloshed.

"That's funny, you look tip-top," Amelia mocked.

"You should get some sleep," Fred advised.

"I might as well keep you company," Amelia declined. "I've got some good flying stories."

"Yeah, you and Mr. Dox. That's quite a love story," Fred rolled his eyes.

"It's an honest one. It has always been professional between us," Amelia said defensively.

"And what about Prince Mon?" Fred brought up.

"We're not together anymore, I mean, we were never together in the first place," Amelia said befuddled. "You disapprove of how I live?"

"Hell, no. Just like me, like most guys I know," Fred said drunkenly.

"Meaning?" Amelia questioned.

"Oh, guys love their wives, their girlfriends, but it doesn't mean they don't take advantage...at an opportunity," Fred said accusingly.

"Before I went on this trip, I went to confession not knowing what would become of me. I have a clear conscience now. How about you?" Amelia asked pissed off.

"I forgot," Fred admitted.

"Then...you can confess to me," Amelia offered.

At maximum speed, Amelia's Artemis arrived at Mars in 2 hours, 16 hours to Jupiter, 18.5 hours to Saturn, and a total of 508 hours (21 days) to the Heliopause. Upon arriving at the Heliopause, Amelia turned back towards Earth. The world was ecstatic as Amelia became the first woman to reach the Heliopause in human history. On the way back, Amelia went straight for Pluto for necessary maintenance and fuel after pushing her Artemis fighter to its maximum speed continuously.

"Pluto, this is Airheart, we're two hundred million kilometers out. Permission to land for maintenance and refueling," Amelia radioed on a sub-space radio.

"We are receiving your signal, please acknowledge ours," a Brainiac 5 drone replied from Pluto. "What is your position and ETA, over?"

"Pluto, this is Airheart, unable to hear you, over," Amelia replied.

"Airheart, this is Pluto, did you receive last transmission?" Brainiac 5 asked. "Please acknowledge our signal."

"Pluto, this is Airheart, unable to receive you on radio. We're one hundred million kilometers out," Amelia replied, still getting nothing but static.

Brainiac 5 attempted to reach Amelia by Morse code. However, the Morse code receiver on the Artemis was out. Concurrently, Pluto's directional radar system was also out. The two continued to talk to each other, going passed each other for several hours.

In desperation, Brainiac 5 increased the output of the fusion generator on the dwarf planet so that it would appear brighter to Amelia's scanners. "Pluto, this is Airheart, we're on you but we cannot see you, over," Amelia radioed.

"We are receiving you consistently, over," Brainiac 5 replied.

Finally, the two were able to communicate with each other very briefly but with no direction. At this point, Brainiac 5 sent a transmission to Earth for assistance.

Earth

On Kara's order, dozens of Hermes probes launched from Earth and made their way to Pluto at lightspeed. Kara launched from Earth to Pluto's orbit at light speed, going Prime, taking her five hours to get there. As soon as she arrived, she found her earpiece had been fried. She was now completely lost in space unable to even find Pluto. With her falcon vision, Kara attempted to find Pluto, a Hermes probe, or the missing Artemis fighter. After an exhausting search, the Artemis fighter was never found.

Kara returned to Earth defeated. At the hangar Amelia worked at, Kara gave a sympathy speech to all those who had worked with her. "I traveled an ocean of stars to reach this world and an ocean of time to reach this century. But everyone has their own ocean to fly as long as they have the heart to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But...what do dreams...know of boundaries?" Kara asked rhetorically as she shed a tear.

Kara then met with Brainiac 5 in an office away from the others. "I lost her, Barney! I failed her! I gave her the medicine that killed her!" she sobbed. "What the fuck happened?"

"I don't know," Brainiac 5 said honestly.

"I cursed her," Kara said mournfully.

"There's no such thing. She's in God's hands now," Brainiac 5 consoled her.

"We have to learn from this, you must learn from this," Kara said as she gathered her wits.

"New protocols will be put into place," Brainiac 5 assured her.

The Artemis fighter was designated a carrier fighter to be launched for only short-distance missions. An upgraded Apollo fighter (X-wing fighter) was introduced shortly after the disaster. This fighter had a maximum impulse speed of 40 million km per hour and was given a warp engine. It also outperformed the Artemis in the atmosphere having a jet-looking shape with four large rear-end engines. Its hull, shielding, and weaponry were roughly 2.5x that of the Artemis. In simulated dogfights, 4 Apollo fighters were equal to 10 Artemis fighters. In the coming months and years, many men and women would exit the solar system and come back, but Amelia would be remembered forever as a pioneer in human space exploration.

Author's Notes: Based on Amelia 2009 which is more like a passion project documentary than a movie which is why it is rated so poorly. In any case, it's another instance of history repeating itself with AOS characters in the future.