Masks Sixteen: Part Three

by

Rodford Edmiston

"Could you do some narration, please?" said Schmidt, still recording as he walked at the rear with the camera, which now had the large, top-mounted lamp turned on. "I am not a veteran videographer, and wish to concentrate on this process."

"Typical mid-War Nazi construction," said Ike, looking around as they proceeded - slowly - into the base. He pointed out the features as he described them. "The cave walls are somewhat smoothed but not really finished, the installation of the pipes and beams is a bit rough and everything is oversized to make up for the lack of quality and the possibility of bombing... Late in the War, of course, things were of much lower quality and much more brute force to compensate, while early in the War a tunnel like this would resemble a subway station."

"You all right?" said Energia, moving close to Gadgetive and speaking in a low voice, as Ike continued.

"Mostly," she replied, with a shiver. "I lost family to these maniacs, I knew that, but this is the first time it's... personal."

Energia didn't have anything to say in response to that, so she just nodded.

There were light fixtures, but the explorers didn't even bother looking for switches with no power detected here. The air was damp but only a bit stale. In a moment of quiet, they could hear water dripping in the distance.

"Spooky..." said Energia, with a slight shiver.

"Yeah," said Gadgetive. "The other places were smaller, not as echoey."

"I dunno," said Energia, quietly. "That tunnel in the old Pine base was pretty echoey. Maybe it's because I know who built this, but it seems... more sinister."

They saw a few items scattered along the corridor; scraps of wood, cloth and paper; rusted tools and parts; things less identifiable. None were deemed worth more than a brief examination. Fortunately, there were no bodies. Some of the items on the floor - and the floor itself - were covered in a thin layer of fine grit mixed with dust, while others lay on top of that layer.

"I'm assuming most of the debris on the floor was stirred up by the bombardment," said Ike. "Indoors dust is largely shed human skin cells, and there aren't supposed to have been any humans in here for decades."

"Eeewww..." said Energia.

Eventually, they could see a branching ahead, a smaller tunnel going off to the right at a forty-five degree angle. Just past the split they could see what looked like factory equipment in the main corridor.

"Looks like the small one goes uphill from here," said Energia, pointing right. "Command center more likely that way?"

"Your guess is as good and any," said Blue Impact, with a shrug.

"We do not separate," said Schmidt.

"I definitely have no problem with that," said Gadgetive, fervently.

There was a closed and locked security gate just inside the entrance to the smaller hallway. This was only a minor impediment to the explorers.

"Well, it has to be protecting something," said Blue Impact, as she tore the rusty lock open.

"I'm sensing power ahead," said Energia, frowning in concentration. "It's weak, though."

"Lights off for a moment," said Ike, leading by example.

After a few seconds, they could see dim light coming down the tunnel. They put their own lights back on and, encouraged, hurried ahead.

"Okay, watch for security devices," said Blue Impact, making sure she was in front.

"She is invulnerable?" said Dampf.

"Nobody's invulnerable," said Gadgetive, absently, watching her palmtop's display of sensor readings. "She's pretty tough, though."

Moments later they were in a small chamber, obviously some sort of combined office and control center. There were more fluorescent fixtures overhead, but those were also dark. The light came from indicator lamps on some of the equipment, shining through a thin layer of dust.

"You are not going to tell me that those have been burning this whole time," said Gadgetive, fists on hips, staring defiantly at the bulbs.

"At low, steady voltage an incandescent bulb can last for more than a century," said Ike, confidently. "Though I think these came on just recently, in response to whatever the Shilmek attack did to this place."

"Wiring's hot, but weak," said Energia, looking around with more than her eyes.

"Let's not turn anything on, then," said Blue Impact. She quickly examined the room. "I don't see a radio."

"This was a manager's office," said Ike, looking carefully but not touching. "We can find the radio room later."

There were other corridors leading in three directions from the room. However, what most attracted their attention was a manila envelope on the desk with the active equipment, which had ACHTUNG! hand written in large, block letters on it still showing clearly through the dust. Ike reached for it, but Schmidt stopped him.

"This is my job," he said, firmly. He handed his camera to Dampf. Then, carefully, he lifted the envelope from where it had been left on the desk in front of one of the control panels. Despite that care, he stirred a considerable amount of gritty dust.

"Paper's so brittle I'm not sure... Ah, there we go."

Perhaps because it was a better quality paper, the document inside was in much better condition than the envelope. There were several pages of typed material and diagrams, bound together with a paperclip. Schmidt peered at the top sheet.

"'Beware the Narrow One! The power to his containment must not be interrupted for even the slightest moment!' Then there's a map and much technical writing."

"What do they mean by 'Narrow One'?" said Ike, confused.

"In German, it is der Schmale."

"That guy who could create a dimensional fold, effectively making himself thinner?" said Blue Impact, frowning. "I remember him from one of the classes we teach on Pine Island. He fought for the Nazis during the War. At first he was just used for espionage and assassination, but he kept expanding his abilities. By the last time anyone heard of him, he was fantastically powerful. Then he just disappeared."

"Last time anyone saw him was in the Fall of 1945," said Gadgetive, nodding as she also remembered her Masks history classes. "Allied Command actually looked for him. Since he was so effective they worried what the Nazis were saving him for. Figured it was something big. He never showed, though."

"Well, one thing we now know," said Schmidt, as he finished skimming the pages. "His real name was Albrecht Jentzsch."

* * *

"Wow," said Energia. "So, uh, where..."

"This..." said Schmidt, who appeared to be developing an ulcer. He looked vaguely - almost desperately - around for a moment, as if trying to find a solution somewhere in that room, then sighed. "I must contact my superiors. I will go outside and use my satellite phone. Please continue your exploration, but do not alter anything."

"Understood," said Blue Impact. "However, if you let the gadgeteers scan those pages, they can start mapping this place and determining what it was for."

"Ah. Of course."

That took only a few minutes. Then Schmidt nodded to them - specifically, Dampf - carefully gathered the papers and left.

"So much for not splitting up," said Energia, her voice slightly sing-song.

"Oh, come on," said Ike, as he perused the scans on his palmtop. "It's a short, straight run to the main tunnel, and a slightly longer but just as direct path to the door. We've already been through there; there's nothing to worry about."

"You just had to say that," muttered Energia.

"Do you read German?" said Dampf, to Dr. Device.

"Oh, yeah. Did some graduate work at Heidelberg."

"Me, too," said Gadgetive, sounding distracted as she also studied the document. "The German, I mean. Never been to school outside the US, except for that one conference in Canada."

"For some reason, gadgeteers and masterminds are good with languages," said Blue Impact, grinning.

"So now I am not needed even for translation," said Dampf, with a sigh, though she kept the camera going.

"Wait," said Energia. "I thought you were second in command. With Schmidt gone, you're in charge."

"Oh! You are right. Well... Carry on, then!"

She smiled as she said it, grateful they were at least trying to include her.

"Gadgetive..." said Ike, remembering something, "you recall those plans you sent me of Gortner's dimensional fold machine?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding.

"The what?" said Dampf.

"Mastermind inventor," said Energia. "Had thieves steal a bunch of high tech equipment to build a device which he planned to use to raid alternate dimensions."

"So what does that have to do with... Here?" said Blue Impact.

"They trapped der Schmale in a dimensional pocket," said Ike. "At least, that's my preliminary guess."

"What a way to go," said Energia, with a shudder. "Wonder if he suffocated or dehydrated first..."

"Wait," said Blue Impact. "If they trapped him decades ago, why the warning about releasing him? Surely he was dead by the time they abandoned this facility..."

"They trapped him in November of 1945," said Ike, checking the notes. "They closed the facility in January of 1947, two months after the surrender. If this is right, they spent most of the time between making sure the containment would last as long as possible."

"They were that worried..." said Blue Impact, shocked.

"Which means we should be, too," said Energia.

* * *

While Gadgetive and Ike worked on the diagrams, the others used the video camera to carefully document what they could in the room. They were careful not to touch things any more than they had to.

"Okay, correlating the diagrams from that envelope with the scans we made outside, it looks like that last hit by the Shilmek took out the main power distribution room," said Ike, finally, frowning as he rubbed his chin.

"What's the power source?"

"Underground river."

"That is what I have been feeling!" said Dampf. She gave them a smug grin. "Perhaps I will be useful on this expedition after all."

"They installed a small dam, flooding the lower part of a natural chamber," said Ike, scrolling his palmtop to show them the specific diagram. "They have some sort of generator at the dam. Don't know what would run unattended for so long, but all of that should have been untouched by the attack."

"Which destroyed the main power distribution room," said Blue Impact, pointedly. "Is there an auxiliary?"

"Three, actually. Added as rush projects when they decided to abandon the base. They should be handling the load for the containment device with no problem between them. Even if only two were working."

"Okay, look at these readings," said Gadgetive, pointing to the control panels. "The one for the main power distribution room is completely dead. No surprise. These three over here must be for the auxiliary units. They're all showing trouble."

"They each show a different problem," said Ike, frowning.

"Yeah," Gadgetive, nodding. "One is dead, one is handling too little power, and the third is overloading."

"Damn..." said Ike, rubbing his chin some more. "Okay, we need to get to those rooms..."

"That is a decision only Schmidt can make," said Dampf, firmly.

"Speaking of which, where is he?" said Blue Impact. "He's been gone a long time for just a call."

"Knowing our superiors, this is not a surprising interval," said Dampf, her tone wry. "However, perhaps we should go and tell him what we have discovered."

"All of us?" said Gadgetive, apparently reluctant to leave the room. Despite all the eagles and swastikas on documents and decorations. As long as there was antique tech to examine, she was happy.

"He told us to continue our exploration," said Blue Impact, after a moment of thought. "We leave a note telling where we've gone, then get eyes on the situation with the power supply."

She looked at Dampf. Who dithered for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes. He specifically said to explore. So, which tunnel?"

"The one on the right, again," said Ike. "It leads further into the mountain, as well as deeper. Straight to the dam and generator, if I'm reading these diagrams right. If all three auxiliary power supply rooms are reporting a problem it's probably at the source."

* * *

"Naturally, it can't be that easy," said Energia in a stage mutter as they looked at the pile of fallen debris.

"It doesn't quite go all the way to the top," said Ike, standing on tip-toe and peering. "We should at least be able to clear crawl space. The rock fracture overhead is conchoidal, so it has formed a dome and is probably stable."

"I suggest you folks stand back, then," said Blue Impact, miming pushing up her sleeves.

Indeed, in just a few minutes she had made enough of a path to scramble through. On the other side of the fall they spent a moment to catch their collective breaths and examine the tunnel.

"Yeah, we're almost there," said Ike, nodding. "I can hear water running."

"I can feel a current, as well," said Dampf.

"I smell smoke," said Blue Impact, who had the most sensitive nose. "Like something electrical burned out."

They soon stepped into a large, natural cavern, mostly flooded. They shone their lights around, Energia actually lifting off and making her whole body glow to illuminate the chamber.

"Ok, I can see a problem - probably the problem - right away," said Ike. He pointed. "There are four transformers over there: One big and three medium. Presumably, the big one goes to the main power room. However, one of the three others is obviously damaged, probably from an internal fire."

They hurried along the obvious trail to the concrete pad poured for the equipment, heading straight for the damaged secondary transformer. Energia shut off her glow, and dropped down to fly alongside the others.

"It's dead," said Energia. She flew along the cable for a bit, towards a panel on posts near the dam. "Yeah. There's a set of switch boxes over here, and one relay is tripped."

"Schmidt said not to alter anything," said Ike, pulling out a socket set. "However, this is already out of service."

"Continue, then," said Dampf, swinging the camera from Energia to him. "This still is under the category of exploring. In this specific case, learning why this failed."

With a side panel off, Ike made a quick visual exam, then pulled out a multimeter and clipped leads to wires.

"It'd take days to rewind this," he said, sighing. "Let's try the big one."

It proved to be in much better shape.

"Okay, if I'm right all we have to do is switch output cables."

"Okay," said Dampf, thinking it through. "Make those alterations, but do not actually switch on yet."

"Understood."

With Energia and Blue Impact doing most of the lifting and toting, they soon had the change made.

"You both are filthy," said Energia, almost laughing at the two gadgeteers. "Blue Impact isn't as dirty as you, and she was carrying things in her arms!"

"Old transformers can get pretty nasty," said Gadgetive, with an aggravated sigh.

"I'd go and wash downstream of the dam," said Ike, wistfully, "but this stuff would pollute who knows what?"

"There is a major above-ground river not far downhill from here," said Dampf, sternly. "This water heads in that direction."

"We'll just do what we can with wipes, then," said Ike, with a sigh of his own.

"Why get cleaned up now, when you may just have to get dirty again fixing something else?" said Blue Impact.

"Because ever since little-miss-I-don't-have-to-touch-things-to-move-them made her comment, I've felt grimy," said Gadgetive. "Besides, there's plenty of cleaning gear in the flyer."

After cleaning as best they could - and bagging all their trash, at Dampf's insistence - Ike decided to try and decipher the workings of the power source.

"I'll be damned," said Ike, as he examined the structure. "Uh, pun not intended. This is all but certainly pozzolanic concrete."

"Which is?" said Blue Impact.

"Roman concrete," said Gadgetive, nodding. "Very good at resisting the effects of water; will even set up while submerged. Yeah, that would explain it holding up so well. The Pantheon is still going strong after two millennia, after all."

"Still no idea how the generator works," said Dr. Device, with a shrug. "Everything here is either stainless steel, heavily galvanized non-stainless, aluminum, a polymer or completely encased in something impervious."

"Well, you should - eventually - be granted permission to dissect the thing," said Blue Impact. "After we've determined just how much of a threat remains."

"What happens when the containment device runs on low power?" said Energia.

"The most likely scenario is that the dimensional pocket would slowly shrink until the remaining amount of power could hold it at the new size. Shrink it enough, though, and it squirts him back into this world. No idea how long that could take."

"Could it have already happened?"

"Sure. However, something is still drawing a lot of power. Enough that the pocket likely stabilized at a smaller size."

"I hear someone in the tunnel," said Blue Impact, turning.

Moments later, they could see a light approaching. Soon, Schmidt was back among them.

"They said under no circumstances are we to alter any functioning equipment." He looked at the work done on the transformers, and his eyes went wide.

"Those were and still are non-functional," said Dampf, quickly. "We examined the equipment and made an improvised repair, but have not switched on the current."

"Good."

He sighed, looking tired.

"They want him released. There were documents - and finding them to confirm is what took so long - that he was imprisoned because he turned against Hitler and the Nazis. That he was threatening to end the War himself if Germany did not surrender. By doing to the high command what he had previously done for them."

"Then our next task is to find the containment room," said Ike.

"Lead on, Macduff!" said Blue Impact, with a broad sweep of her arm.

Part Four

Except presumably for Dampf, the only way in or out of the chamber - at least while it was flooded - was back the way they came. They trooped along the sloped corridor up to the "management" room and took the central tunnel. According to the diagrams, this was level for a distance, then after passing the radio room and several laboratories, it descended steeply to the containment chamber. This was nearly as deep as the generator room under the mountain.

However, as they walked along Blue Impact - again in the lead - stopped, held up a hand to the others and listened, frowning in concentration after they stopped.

"What is it?" said Ike, quietly.

"I swear, I hear voices. Mixed languages, but mostly German."

"Could someone have beaten us inside?" said Energia, to Schmidt.

"It's... possible. Though very unlikely. The entire area has been under guard since shortly after the signal was detected."

"If someone is there, they're having a party," said Blue Impact. "I hear music, too."

"Could be someone just left the radio on," said Ike, innocently. Which elicited a rolling of the eyes by Gadgetive.

They proceeded more cautiously. Soon, they could see light ahead, and all of them heard the voices and other sounds.

Blue Impact motioned for the others to wait while she moved ahead to peek around the door frame. She stared for a moment, then came back to them. She appeared puzzled.

"There's a guy in black pants, white shirt and red suspenders, wearing old-fashioned wire-frame glasses, with antique headphones on, sitting in front of banks of radios."

"Could that be der Schmale?" said Gadgetive, startled. She looked at Schmidt, who shrugged, obviously well out of his depth with this unexpected turn of events.

"We could go ask him..." said Ike, glancing down the corridor.

Blue Impact nodded, turned around and walked back to the doorway, the others trailing. Schmidt was well behind the group as a whole, while Dampf stayed in the middle. The two Germans seemed unaccountably nervous. It was only now that Blue Impact realized the camera was no longer in use. Maybe it had run out of memory or power? She shook her head, and reminded herself to keep her mind on the business at hand.

Blue Impact got to the large, open doorway - everyone but Schmidt close behind - and knocked, loudly, on the steel frame. The man with the earphones jumped, and spun around as he yanked them off his head. They could see now that he also wore a black bow tie. He stared blankly for a moment.

"" said Ike.

"Ja," said the man, looking uneasy.

"Okay, even I understood that," said Energia. "Now, if we can just get him to turn down those radios so we can talk..."

"My apologies," he said, in heavily accented English.

He began turning off radios, not even rising but scooting around the room on the wheels of his chair. With the noise gone, he stood and gave a slight bow.

"I am at your service."

Schmidt now chose to step forward, though not too far forward. He introduced himself and the others, in German. The stranger nodded.

"I apologize if I seem... nervous," said the slim, smiling man, who looked more uncomfortable than nervous. "I was hoping to put off actually meeting with anyone for a while, yet."

He gestured at the banks of antique radios.

"I am still trying to catch up with the future."

"You know you were imprisoned for more than sixty-five years?" said Schmidt, switching back to English.

"Yes. That was quite a shock. I had no idea those fanatics would be so... vindictive."

"So why did they imprison you?" said Energia, earning a brief glare from Schmidt.

"I... had an attack of conscience. Killing the enemies of our nation in war was one thing. When I learned that they were simply slaughtering millions of non-combatants..."

He sighed and shook his head.

"I was naive. I thought I could persuade or perhaps intimidate Hitler and his cronies."

He gave a sour laugh. Then he saw their expressions.

"Yes. Stupid."

Actually, hearing someone talk about persuading or intimidating Hitler and his inner circle had reminded the others in the room of the history behind this place... and this man. There was a moment of silence after that. Finally, Schmidt sighed, and turned to Ike Kenniman.

"Would you please take your team on to the confinement room?" said Schmidt, quietly, to Blue Impact. "Make certain all is secure there."

"Of course," said Ike. He glanced over at Dampf and Jentzsch. The two were hesitantly trying to start a conversation, but were encountering difficulty. Perhaps Schmidt thought that having just the three Germans there would help ease the feeling of awkwardness. He spoke quietly. "You certain you don't want any of us to stay here with you?"

"Yes," said Schmidt, likewise. "Thinking upon it, the only criminal or war crime accusations against him involved the assassinations of enemy officers. While the reports were that he was ruthless and later in the War needlessly violent, I am now wondering how much of that was simply wartime exaggeration and propaganda."

* * *

"So much for war propaganda," said Gadgetive, smirking. They passed darkened laboratories on both sides, but they could now make out light ahead. "He seems like a nice guy."

"Maybe," said Dr. Device, looking thoughtful. "That's not what's bothering me. Did you notice how Dampf keeps referring to Schmidt as herr rather than using his law enforcement title?"

"I've done that, back in the US, using sir," said Energia, shrugging. "Usually because I couldn't remember whether someone was a Detective, Lieutenant or what."

"Given her long history of working with law enforcement - in Germany, all costumed supers are either approved by the law or wanted by it - you'd expect her to know and use the proper title."

"Did you notice that the video camera has been off since shortly after we left the power room?" said Blue Impact.

"No, I hadn't," said Ike, startled.

They reached the downward portion of the corridor; a steep section more like a ramp than a hallway. The light was now more noticeable. They barely needed their own lamps.

At the bottom of the slope they found a short, level hall. At the end of that was the containment chamber.

"Wow," said Gadgetive, as they walked through the propped-open double doors into the room, "that's huge!"

In the center of the chamber was a massive device which looked less like Gortner's dimensional fold machine than an early particle accelerator. Massive cables ran between it and dusty consoles all around the room. The fluorescent lights were on, giving the room a more thorough but much more stark illumination than their hand lamps would have.

"Old-time tech," said Ike, smiling and nodding as he walked around it. He carefully put a hand on the device. "It's mostly shut down, too, and has been for a while. What is on is barely warm, barely running. So what's using all the power?"

"All that radio equipment..." said Energia.

"Yeah," said Gadgetive, nodding. "A bunch of old, AM and shortwave tube radios - especially heavy-duty military base equipment - would eat a lot of current. Though some of the consoles in here are still on, too..."

"That's not what I meant. I didn't see any antennae or sense any RF outside. Even receivers, especially those old tube ones, emit some RF. I could definitely feel it once we got close to the radio room."

"You're right," said Gadgetive, frowning.

"He could have put up a simple longwave dipole," said Ike. "He might not have had the radios on when we arrived. The radio room wasn't all that warm."

"This whole thing stinks," said Blue Impact, scowling. She had the most experience among the quartet with crime fighting, including detective work. "What's up with Schmidt and Dampf? Their bosses ask for our help, in case there's something weird here, and the weirder it's turned out to be the more they seem to want us to leave."

Ike looked curiously over at Energia, who was walking slowly around the machine, staring at it intently.

"What?"

"You're right that there's only a low current flow," she said, slowly, "but... there's still some sort of distinct spatial strain present. Like a... dimple... in space..."

* * *

"This equipment is in surprisingly good shape," said Ike. He looked up and around the ceiling, using his hand lamp on the shadowed areas. "Over-designed components. Redundant backups. Don't know what that paint is, but it sealed the room very well. So, no water damage. There's almost no oxidation, either."

"There's something else," said Energia. "This room is a dead zone. A Faraday cage. The only EMF I'm getting from outside is coming through the open door."

"Ike, there's barely even any dust on this stuff," said Gadgetive. "I also don't see any vents."

"I wonder if the room was hermetically sealed and filled with an inert gas," said Ike, in a distracted manner. "Even the ends of the conduits they drove through the rock look sealed."

"So it's very well preserved," said Blue Impact, nodding. "That explains why it kept working for so long."

"It's more than that," said Dr. Device, apparently Officially Impressed. "I would like to give it a detailed examination first, and maybe a cleaning, but my guess is you could run this back up to full power without a problem. Let's just hope we don't have to..."

"That's good to hear," said Dampf, surprising them as she walked into the chamber. She looked... tired. "I am afraid this situation has not gone as expected. We thought perhaps to find dangerous equipment left from secret War research projects. Instead, we have a German citizen who is a refugee from another time. Thank you for your help; you have, indeed, greatly speeded our investigation. However, we must now ask you to leave. There are... political complications. I'm certain you understand."

"Yeah," said Gadgetive, in an angry mutter, "we understand."

Neither Schmidt nor Jentzsch were in the still quiet radio room when they walked by, Dampf behind them as if to usher them on. However, Energia noticed that someone had pulled the lead wires from the back of one of the sets and left them hanging loose off the edge of the table it was on.

I bet they were using whatever antenna that's connected to to talk outside on Schmidt's radio, thought Energia. Though that still doesn't explain where the antenna is.

Dampf guided them all the way out into the main tunnel, where Schmale and Schmidt could be heard but not seen, much further along that huge chamber, deep in the machinery.

"What's all this for, anyway?" said Gadgetive, gesturing at the part of the large hall they hadn't explored. "That's a lot more than you'd need to produce the confinement projector."

"It turns out this facility was meant to produce..." Dampf hesitated, frowning. "Die elecktrisch Glocken? Electric bells?"

"Oh, those," said Ike, his tone dismissive. "They'd never have worked independently."

"Ah," said Dampf, trying to look enlightened but not completely succeeding. "Well, I know they brought herr Jentzsch here on a pretense, claiming that by studying him they could not only understand how to make the bells work, but improve his own powers. He is now giving herr Schmidt a tour, and I am supposed to join them. Again, thank you for your help. I believe you know the way out."

She looked very uncomfortable as she turned away, waving awkwardly over her shoulder.

"All right," said Blue Impact, with a sigh. She started walking - though slowly - towards to the entrance. "Might as well head back."

"Couldn't we sneak around some?" said Gadgetive. "I've only seen that one bell in that museum, and they won't even open it to let you look inside."

"What are these bells?" said Energia.

"Devices which were supposed to use a vacuum engine to generate energy, which would then react with the Earth's magnetic and electrical fields to fly." Ike shook his head. "Idiots."

"Well, some of us have to go to a ceremony in DC in a few days," said Blue Impact, smiling at Energia. "I'm just glad we got through here before that mess."

"Not looking forward to that," said the younger super.

"I know," said Blue Impact. "However, if we want to further acceptance of supers among various factions, this is part of that."

"Then, back to college," said Energia, with a tired sigh. She stopped as they approached the massive doors, raising her hands. "Hold on. Can we not just walk outside blindly?"

Ike started to chastise her for being paranoid, then remembered how often she'd been right. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small container.

"Okay, was saving these in case there were areas we couldn't get into."

He opened the phial and poured the contents - which looked like fine, grey sand - onto the already gritty floor. He then used his palmtop to enter some commands. The "sand" stirred, and evaporated.

"Micromechanical drones," said Ike, proudly, watching his palmtop. "Okay, the Bundespolizei are out there, keeping watch. Nothing suspicious. Not even straight up, above the entrance."

He entered more commands, and the swarm of tiny mechanical gnats returned, pouring into the phial, which he had laid on the floor for that purpose. Ike put his palmtop away and capped the container.

"Satisfied?"

"For now," said Energia, in a mock-ominous tone.

They walked outside, paused for a moment, blinking in the afternoon sunlight, then moved past the police officers to their travel pod. The six men watched in stone-faced silence and the supers flew away.

* * *

Energia was very uncomfortable as she mingled with the other invitees to this special awards ceremony. The weather was typically stifling for August in Washington. Not helping dealing with the heat was the fact that she wore her formal costume, which was not only a bit snug these days, it was far from her coolest. Of course, with the power still off in much of the city it would have been worse most places indoors; at least out here they had a mild, steady breeze. Congress was still meeting in several different emergency bunkers, teleconferencing to get things done. Few government officials besides the President and her staff were actually in Washington these days.

Energia milled around the reception area - outdoors but with multiple portable awnings to sit or stand under - a plastic tumbler of ginger ale in her hand. The snacks were adequate, but far below the usual standard for a major Washington event. Something which was quite understandable. Even if they could have gathered the resources for a typical fete, they would not have done so as to avoid bad publicity. There were parts of the country which were still not getting fresh food, several weeks after victory.

Those who - like her - were recipients of the awards to be given out later were dressed in their finest. Some were obviously still injured, but Energia had shed the last of her own bandages not long after the surrender. Though most here were strangers to her, she knew many of the people she saw. There were mask friends and acquaintances as well as people in the military and law enforcement she had worked with, so she wasn't alone. She just wished her parents and Uncle Randy could attend.

She knew this ceremony was important for morale, to help reinforce that they'd won and officially recognize those who had performed above and beyond the call of duty. She still didn't want to be here. From what she'd overheard, most of those here didn't. Civilian, military or super, they would prefer to be continuing the work.

Soon, word was passed to assemble for the ceremony. With a reluctant sigh, Energia dumped her drink and headed for the portable toilets. Only to find others had that idea before her. Eventually, though, she was headed for the Capitol building.

Standing there, on the steps of the mostly undamaged structure, under an awning to keep the worst of the Sun off, with dozens of professional TV cameras and thousands of smart phones pointed at her, made this one of the few times since taking up the mask when she'd felt exposed. Embarrassed to be wearing a costume in public.

Oh, well; my part should be brief, since there's so many being recognized, she thought. She gave a tired smile.

Despite officially being on leave, since coming back from Germany she'd been busy almost continuously, mainly helping first responders with accidents, aiding relief efforts and fighting crime. Not under the authority of Special Resources - she doubted they even knew about her activities - or as part of a regular team, but responding to radio calls. Energia just wished so many people didn't think that having a war was justification to abandon all traces of morality. Many of those she'd helped arrest actually believed the nation was in a state of anarchy, every person for himself. If the brigands couldn't be reigned in soon, that might become true... They were actually sabotaging some of the repair work.

Civilians received their awards first, to the cheers of the surprisingly large crowd. Then regular law enforcement officers of various types. The largest single group consisted of members of the US military. A distressing number of those medals were posthumous. Then came the supers. Many Energia thought deserving of recognition weren't here, and she wasn't certain what many of those who were here had done to get medals.

Within each category the awards were given in alphabetical order by name. With the supers, that meant - with only a few exceptions - their mask name. There was no confusion about who went when. They had even been informed ahead of time what award they would receive.

"Energia," said the announcer.

She took a deep breath, straightened her posture even more, and walked forward to the President.

Energia actually zoned out a bit as President Sievers recited the reasons for her award, which was the Presidential Medal of Freedom With Distinction. Interestingly, the recitation was phrased to avoid mentioning how many she had killed; only that she had defended the entire northeast, largely by destroying much of a Shilmek landing force. There was no mention of anything she had done for the President, personally. That was understandable; the whole mess with the Vice-President was still being kept quiet. However, as she moved in to put the medal on the young super, President Sievers whispered "Thank you." in Energia's ear. Which made her smile as they shook hands.

The smile was replaced by an expression of confusion as someone began screaming in the crowd.

"She's a murderer! She killed my husband and his friends! She's fucking one of theeeemmmm...!!"