Lakeside Antics

Chapter 4 of Sapphire Mermaid

The east bank of Spotes Lake was dotted with tents and various vendors. Several hundred families were on hand with their kids, enjoying music and smells of cooking. A radio station was on hand to encourage donations to children's charities. All awaited the arrival of the mermaids, who would stay for ninety minutes. Privately, that was due to the lack of anti-pruning in the water. No one ever saw a pruny mermaid.

Kara wandered the kiosks with Jimmy and Lois, keeping an eye out for trouble. It wasn't likely that anyone would make a play for Sirtis in such a public place. Still, the Men in Black were impatient for the secrets of the crashed UFO. They undoubtedly had the third kryptonite gun, even though they'd been led to believe it didn't work. Yet the biggest concern was their implied threat of harm to Lois and Jimmy.

"Look, out there!" Jimmy pointed to a trailer truck winching a motor launch into the lake's far end. The girls would use it as a means of coming and going, in keeping with the fantasy.

The radio announcer did his part toward that end. "The mermaids have arrived, folks! Keep watching!"

One by one, the mermaids exited the cabin, seal style, and slipped over the side. The crowd applauded their swim toward shore. Once there, the girls sat in shallow water, awaiting the first events.

"Remember," the announcer said, "the mermaids don't speak our language. The first event is a swim with Binia." The blonde mermaid waited at the end of a short pier, where the first child settled onto her back. She set off across the calm waters to the delight of the crowd.

"Next, for the less adventurous, Sirtis will tow two floats." Sirtis placed the straps about herself, and towed a pair of inflatable seahorses with small riders. "Now to get the emerald mermaid busy! She'll swim out a ways, and see how far you can throw a Frisbee!"

Lois smiled at all the fun and children's laughter while Jimmy took pictures in dappled shade. She leaned against a tree trunk with a lemonade. "So far so good, Kara. Do you think we'll have any trouble from those Men in Black? I can't see them getting at Sirtis while she's out there."

"Maybe we've spoken too soon." Kara nodded toward two familiar figures in black suits. "I'd better go see what they want."

"Lois rose and brushed off. "What are we going to do about those guys?"

"I'm not sure yet, but we Kryptonians stick together. They're on course to find that out the hard way." Kara made her way to where the men waited beneath a spreading maple, next to a nondescript car.

"We have coordinates for you," said the taller, heavyset one.

"And the gun?" Kara asked. "Oh yes, I know all about it, including that it doesn't work."

The shorter one: "We've reached a conclusion about that. It needs a larger piece of super magnet. That's only one reason we want the UFO. A plan is in motion. We'll be in touch." Both got back in and drove away, crunching over gravel on the access road.

"Curious." Kara returned to Lois, where Jimmy was chowing on a hot dog. "They've got something planned. He mentioned coordinates, so I believe they'll get us a map or something."

"They sure didn't stay long," Jimmy noted.

The announcer came on again. "We have a special surprise. There's an old pickup truck at the lake bottom. Since Sirtis is the deep diver, she'll retrieve two objects. One is a trophy filled with candy." The kids cheered. "The other is a private gift for Sirtis. Are you ready, Sapphire Mermaid?"

"Here we go," Kara said. She gave a nod to a questioning look from Sirtis, who undulated out to the deepest part of the lake. Upending, she dived below the surface.

"I don't like this," Lois said.

"It's okay. They won't make a play for Sirtis if they're giving her tools to work with."

Minutes later, Sirtis popped up near the boat, where she heaved aboard a metal box. Then she swam back to shore, where eager kids tore at the waterproof tape around the trophy lid. Kara spent the remaining hour waiting out the rest of the show, after which the mermaids swam back to the boat. She'd have to include them when the box was opened, but would keep the UFO secret.

During the walk around the lake to the boat trailer, Jimmy took a few last shots of the venue behind them. "There's one thing I don't get. Why all the trouble of planting that truck, then having Sirtis dive for that phony trophy? Not to mention arranging the whole thing with the radio station?

"Cloak and dagger," Kara said. "No one sees them make the handoff. It's also a demonstration of their reach."

Lois returned a wave from Binia up on deck. "I see the girls have wrestled their muscular legs out of those swimsuits. But Jimmy's right. What are we gonna do about those spooks? I'm sure Jim and I are in the crosshairs."

"That's a sticky one." Kara held up a placating hand to the truck driver, who was ready to haul the boat back to the marina. "I need a quick powwow with Sirtis. Then I'll see Perry about a crazy idea."

"Don't tell us," Jimmy said. "Then they won't have to rub us out."

Lois gave him an amused frown. "Give me a hand up, will you?"

In the small cabin, the swimmers sat close together with towels around their wet heads. Kara sat with Jimmy and Lois across the narrow aisle. The box contained two items: a tiny notebook and a globe-shaped light. The shape was intended to resist extreme pressure, telling her the wreck was in the deepest part of the Pacific. When the trailer bumped over a rough spot in the road, Kara took the opportunity to beckon Sirtis up on deck. The two climbed up onto the fantail, where they sat cross-legged. Light poles zipped past on the boulevard, and traffic noise assailed them.

"Sirtis, we can't let them get their hands on that craft."

Sirtis mopped at her hair, decided it was dry enough. "Agreed. It will already be destroyed by the pressure, but the magnet will be useful even in pieces. I can drop it into a volcano."

"Then what?" Kara braced as they made a left turn in front of a car dealership. "We'll face hordes of vengeful agents, never knowing where they'll strike next. We need a permanent solution." She put a pensive fist to her chin. "They won't move against us while they need us for the recovery. I want to make a little adjustment to the plan before you set out. Jimmy and Lois will fly back to Metropolis tonight, and I'll see Perry White in the morning."

"Very well. I weary of this. It is time to be hunters, not the hunted." The truck pulled into the marina, with its forest of masts and circling gulls, where Binia had left her car.

Metropolis

"Great Caesar's ghost!" Perry ran a hand through his hair. "Just when I was getting used to you, Supergirl, you ask me for a vampire?"

Kara sat on the sofa arm with legs crossed. "It isn't for me, Perry. It's for Lois and Jimmy."

"You left out Kent. And what about it?"

"Your lives will never be safe unless I can pull this off. I think they're behind the attempts on Sirtis, and that will involve Lois and Jimmy after I doublecross them. That's why I have to strike first. Don't forget—everything you know will be endangered, including Inspector Henderson. Even this very newspaper."

Perry glowered at his desk. "I'll get on the wire and see what turns up, according to those bizarre criteria you've laid out. It'll most likely mean a trip to the Old Country. But that's a ten minute flight for you, Supergirl. In heaven's name, what the heck is going on?"

Kara walked over to the desk and rested palms there, leaning forward. "I'm going to take down the Men in Black. All the way down."