Krypton Vengeance

Chapter 2 of Sapphire Mermaid

The remote lumber section was deserted at the moment, having given Kara a chance to catch up with Sirtis in the water channel. Both were surprised by the gunman who carried what could only be described as a ray gun, a futuristic rifle. His brown suit and hat, with yellow tie, normally was the mark of the underworld. But his accent said otherwise.

"You in the water—come out." When no one moved, he leveled the gun. "Someone wants to see you about a job. If you refuse, people will die." Still getting no action, he fired a green beam that hurled Sirtis against the channel side, where she slipped beneath the surface.

"I'll take that," said an outraged Kara.

"Big talk from a girl in a paisley summer dress. No matter—you know too much." He drew a silenced pistol, which coughed out three shots, then three more when Kara didn't react. "So—another one! So much the better." He fired the ray again, unaware Kara was immune. His face fell.

Kara grabbed the rifle and crushed it to the size of a marble. "I won't bother asking where you got this, or how many there are. Since Superman is our country's first line of defense, there are people who will make you talk."

He was about to make a snide remark when a blue streak snatched him and burst out the corner of the ceiling.

"Sirtis . . ." A surprised Kara launched herself out the same hole. Sirtis was high overhead, slicing through a cloud bank with the would-be assassin. When Kara drew near, Sirtis put on more speed, risking the man burning up from air friction. "Sirtis! Some time in the phantom zone will make him talk!" The air grew cold and thin, the planet's curvature more pronounced. Soon they were in space, where Sirtis flung the desiccated corpse out into the starry void.

The return trip was less hurried. When atmosphere made speech possible, Kara drew alongside, having to shout against fierce wind flow. "Do you know what you've done?"

"I reserve the right to deal with attempts on my life."

"He tried to capture you—"

"Does not your law allow death for kidnapping?"

Kara watched a patchwork miles below rush up at them. "I might follow that logic, but Superman never will. This world tries its own." It was hard to fault Sirtis after years of imprisonment in the phantom zone, and especially being confronted with her own mortality.

"Do you want me back in the zone?"

Kara didn't answer right away, unprepared for the question.

"He knew about your immunity," Sirtis said, "which even I did not know." They veered aside for an airliner, whose passengers must be gaping at the girl and the mermaid hurtling earthward. "There must be a consequence for this." Closer to ground, they leveled off among towering clouds that boiled upward on thermals. Sirtis chased a flock of geese, briefly scattering them.

"Remember the day we met?" Kara reminded. "I pointed out there was to be no killing."

"Very well." Sirtis didn't sound convincing. The pair dived down on the palladium and landed beside the gaping hole. Inside, a custodian was cleaning up fallen debris. They flew down when he wheeled his cart out.

Sirtis flopped into the water channel. "I will have to explain my absence somehow." She looked glum. "What is our next move?"

"I've got two calls to make. Kara took her costume out of the oversized purse, cast about for someplace to change.

"The professor who makes the guns," Sirtis said, "must be neutralized."

"Leave that to me," Kara warned. "Now that we know about them, make sure no one catches you alone. By the way—Lois and Jimmy are coming for an interview."

Sirtis looked contemplative. "My fin mates think me a little strange, since I do not understand much of their pratter. Perhaps Binia and Ellie will fill in for me."

"I understand." Kara allowed a note of empathy to creep in. "Now I'm going to pay a call on an old friend, if I may abuse the word."

Metropolis

Hours later, Kara watched from the woods on the seventh tee. Her old foe, the crime boss called the Chiller, finished a drive. With him was a boss she didn't recognize, and their obligatory triggermen as caddies. With any luck, she'd get the word on the street, then head back to keep an eye on Lois and Jimmy. One of the bravos saw her approach, came forth with a hand up in warning. She put the squeeze on it, forcing him to his knees.

The Chiller saw it and waved her over, while his bravo nursed a smarting hand. Always dapper, her wore an open white shirt and gold necklace with gray slacks. "Kara, my dear, good to see you. Cabbo," he said to the other boss, "allow me to introduce Supergirl."

"Supergirl?" The stout boss glanced around as if for police. "What kinda setup is this?"

"Not to worry," Chiller said. "Me and her have an understanding. Right, doll?"

Kara ignored all the roving eyes. "You take a lot for granted, Chiller. What have you heard about kryptonite guns? I took one away from a foreign actor this morning."

"Kryptonite?" Cappo leered. "Start the bidding!"

Chiller used both hands to tamp down the levity. "Careful, Cap, unless your fire insurance is paid up. This dame don't play." Kara's stare added to the heat. "It's like this—the only word I got is a lot of power players lookin' for somethin'. A Spanish galleon? A Russian sub? Whatever it is has a lot of water on top of it." Unable to offer more, he signed of with his usual snark. "Hey, you guys wanna hear a golf joke?"

Kara figured golf couldn't be dragged into the sewer, so she stayed.

"What four sounds do you hear on a golf course? A driver goes ping! An iron goes whack! A ball into the trees goes bop bop bop bop! The golfer goes efffff meeeee! Ha ha haa!" All four men laughed uproariously.

"Cute," Kara said, not amused. At the approach of two men in black suits and sunglasses, she stepped in front of the party. "No guns—these are government agents." She went to confront them.

"Kara Supergirl," the taller one said. "We meet yet again."

Beneath an Antarctic base, Kara had destroyed their captured UFO and sent its demonic driver back to whatever dimension it hailed from. There must be another one in play. "I begin to see the picture. Everyone is after a UFO that crashed in the ocean. What I don't see is the connection with kryptonite guns." They merely looked back behind their shades. "Could it be there's something you don't know? Someone tried to force me into finding the wreck." She didn't want to mention Sirtis.

"Incorrect." The shorter one traded looks with his partner. "We would liquidate you if possible because you know too much about us. Failing that, we hope to enlist the other Kryptonian to our cause. Our adversaries abroad must not find the craft."

"So you know about Sirtis? If I thought you had anything to do with the attempt to capture her—"

The taller one took out a photo and handed it over. It was a publicity shot of the mermaids. "We're aware of the blue one's ability to stay under for inhumanly long periods. She has not been here long enough to become a ward of Superman. Perhaps she will aid our cause. In return, we will do what we can about the ray guns."

There was an implied threat there, since they knew where the girls were. "I'll agree this far: Sirtis will go down and have a look, and we'll decide what to do next."

"Acceptable, Kara Supergirl," shorty said. "Make the right decision." They turned to go.

Chiller came to her side. "Who are the suits? They could use some fashion counseling."

"I could tell you," Kara said, "but then they'd have to kill you." Crouching, she sprang skyward, headed back to Georgia, hoping none of these lunatics had caught up with Lois or Jimmy.