Part Four

Thanks to the complications of the double attack, cleanup took hours. Between museum security, local police, milling bystanders and many, many news teams things did not go smoothly. Fortunately, the police did keep the news teams away from the actual scene, so the four supers were spared having to deal with them as well. Even as the matters involved in the actual assaults were being straightened out, though, another complication arrived in the form of a museum official, who was accompanied by several more security personnel. The team members were, at that time, standing around, waiting for a high-ranking local police official to arrive and formally take their statement. The leader of the new arrivals may have therefore seen them as easy targets. Ignoring the police and the security men and women already present, he marched directly to the quartet and addressed them in a challenging manner.

"While you were busy with trivialities someone stole the Tuesday Ruby!"

"Wait..." said Blue Impact. "That's in a completely different building. It's a permanent exhibit. We didn't even know there was a threat to steal it."

"The obvious question is why not?!" the man said, shrilly, as he ignored the efforts by one of the uniformed officers to regain control of the situation. "It is the most valuable single item on exhibit! Why wasn't it your priority!?"

"Look, we knew nothing about any threat against anything except this specific, short term exhibit," said Blue Impact, angrily. "If you knew there was a problem, why didn't you bring it to someone's attention?"

"Oh, now you're trying to blame me?" said the man, even more shrilly.

"Right," said Blue Impact, with a tired sigh. "We risk our lives stopping two robbery attempts, and all we get is criticism for not stopping a third which took place somewhere else."

"The Tuesday Ruby isn't the most valuable object in this museum complex," said Gadgetive, in an authoritative tone. "It isn't even the most valuable object in the mineralogy museum. That would be the Idol's Eye Blue Diamond. The ruby is valuable, though, and famous. The Precious Stones even wrote a song about it, back in 1967."

"I'm talking about the theft of a national treasure and you're arguing trivialities!" the man shrieked, his voice cracking. "What are you people even doing here?!"

"We were invited," said Blue Impact, flatly.

"Well, not by me!"

"Right," Blue Impact repeated. She looked at the senior officer present, who rolled his eyes. Deciding to focus on their actual problem, she turned to look at their prisoners. "Vic, who was it that you suggested calling, a few minutes ago?"

"FBI. They have a special branch for dealing with art theft and art fraud, and I think that's what the items in this exhibit count as. The ruby would, too."

The mad inventor and several others started shouting denials about that classification, but one of the uniforms present overrode them in volume.

"Whoah! No FBI! This is specifically a local crime, and we'll handle it."

"I really don't need an argument over jurisdiction, just now," said Blue Impact, who noticed that most of the uniforms were stepping back a bit. "We have a federal officer interning with us. She already made the arrests."

She pointed at Vic, who pointed to the badge on her belt.

"You're not a fed," said the officer, actually sneering. "You're a pseudo-fed!"

"If you think you can ignore my authority," said Vic, tone deadly, "you'll find yourself arrested, in restraints and up on charges. Back off!"

He did, though sputtering. His retreat was due in part to the senior officer present having a quiet word with him.

"Stop ignoring me!" shouted the mineralogy museum official.

As if that were possible, thought Blue Impact.

"Sir, we're not ignoring you," said Blue Impact, trying to be diplomatic. "We're calling in experts to deal with your problem."

That was Vic's cue to start making calls. Meanwhile, the senior uniform quickly got on his radio. Before he could receive any sort of definitive response, however, several unmarked cars arrived and - among others - three well-dressed men and a woman got out. The man apparently in charge of these new arrivals looked around, stone faced but obviously attempting to sort out what was going on. He saw Vic wave, then point to her badge. His eyes might have widened just a bit. He walked quickly over to her and the pair spoke quietly for several minutes. Then, at Vic's suggestion, the man waved the senior uniform present over.

By now Blue Impact had her own cell phone out and was making several quick, terse calls. Finally, she nodded, thanked whoever she was speaking to and hung up. She walked over to the head of museum security.

"I just finished a conference call which included the city's Attorney General," she said, politely but firmly. "The museum gets funding from the city, the state and the federal government. However, this exhibit is here from out of state. Given that, and the fact that an authorized, active federal officer made the actual arrests they all agreed that the FBI should take custody."

"I'll have to confirm that," said the man, stiffly.

"I would expect no less."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means that if you don't confirm that I will report you for dereliction of duty!" snapped Blue Impact. She spun around and marched towards Vic, who had just finished with the men she had been talking to. "Tell me some good news."

"The Chief, here, got a call which pretty much confirmed what we had already decided: The FBI has jurisdiction. They have a team on the way from the local office. They've already cleared this with the city."

"What about my ruby?!" screamed the mineralogy museum man.

"It's not your ruby, Fred!" yelled another administrator. "It belongs to the museum! Have you even officially reported the crime, yet?"

He started to make an angry retort, then looked startled. Then he hurried - soon breaking into a run - back the way he had come.

* * *

A museum official eventually confirmed the obvious; that the exhibit was closed for the rest of the week. More likely for the rest of the month. Repairs had to be made, and additional security arranged to keep things safe until then. The quartet was therefore out of a job.

Once they arrived, the FBI team essentially told them the same thing. It was "Thanks for your help. We'll handle things from here."

"I heard what our two roof squatters told the police," said Blue Impact, as the four women walked back to their ride, which was hidden in a lawn care garage at the rear of the museum's administration building. "However, once we get back to the lair we definitely need a debriefing of our own. I have questions I haven't heard anyone else ask, yet."

As their apergy pod settled into cruise mode for the short trip back to Tricorne's headquarters, Energia noticed Gadgetive yawning.

"How can you be sleepy after all that excitement?"

"Not sleepy," said the gadgeteer, in a sour mutter. "Just short on caffeine."

"Feeling tired?" said Vic, with saccharine cheerfulness. "There's a nap for that!"

"Huh?" said Gadgetive, blankly.

Vic suddenly straightened in her seat.

"Sorry; it's my boss."

She reached up and tapped a concealed switch on her helmet.

The call didn't last long, but by the time it was over the chameleon-skinned flyer was already dropping through the roll-open top of the storage shed on the roof of the old bakery. The quartet disembarked from the vehicle, crossed the short distance to the top of the stairs - unseen thanks to a high fence all around the periphery of the roof - and entered the lair.

"What a mess," groaned, Vic, collapsing melodramatically on the lair's reinforced couch, still in her armor. "Is this the way your cases usually go?"

"No, but a lot of them do," said Blue Impact, just as tiredly. She gave Vic a sympathetic smile, as she sat in her recliner. "Though we don't usually have to deal with the paperwork they put you through."

Vic gave a tired laugh and pulled her helmet off.

"You remember that call I got on the flight back here? That was Doro, telling me they'd gotten five calls to verify my identity and authority. Two of those from the FBI!"

"Was the gem theft just coincidence?" said Energia, as she landed gracefully on the other end of the couch. "Or did some mastermind set all the rest up as a distraction to steal the ruby for a mega-laser or something?"

"Whoah," said Gadgetive, eyes going wide as she - as usual - entered the large, main room last. "I hadn't thought of that. They do use rubies for some types of lasers. Though it'd be easier to culture a synthetic with exactly the right properties than steal something that well protected."

"I suspect that the ruby theft was for ransom," said Blue Impact, frowning in thought. "Even recutting the Tuesday Ruby - which would be a cultural crime - wouldn't let them get away with selling the pieces; its chemical signature is registered and the pieces would be quickly identified."

"We need a bigger couch," said Gadgetive, glaring at the two on that piece of furniture. There was actually plenty of room.

"Oh, use the other recliner," said Energia, sourly. "You never sit on the couch unless you're watching TV anyway."

"Okay," said Vic, trying to ignore the byplay and get back to the case, "one other thing I got from the call was a warning that other places which also have some of the tech from the exhibits might be targeted. They've notified the FBI and local law enforcement in the appropriate areas."

"Closest place to here - after the museum - would be Abner Sturgeon's home," said Gadgetive, looking thoughtful as she distractedly sat on the coffee table. "It's in a suburb of Charleston."

"Probably not our concern, then," said Blue Impact. She sighed and rose. "All right, let's get started on the debriefing. What was the first anyone knew of the attack?"

"That big thump," said Vic, "as the power armor punched a hole in the wall to let the drones in. I didn't see or hear it before that, and I was too far away for my sense of perception to catch it."

"Yeah," said Gadgetive, nodding. "Must have been stealthed, like our flyer. Didn't see or hear anything before that."

Blue Impact led them through a detailed account of their actions, piecing together what had happened as best she could. Finally satisfied, she nodded.

"That's about all we can do until I get the reports of the prisoner interrogations," she said. "I'll just make notes for now."

"Y'know," said Gadgetive, hopefully, "I'd like to see that house."

"Sturgeon's home?" said Blue Impact, pausing on her way to her private, corner workstation.

"Yeah. It was supposed to have been cleared of all his stuff, but there are rumors that the new owners just left it all there. That either it was too much trouble to remove, or that the new owners were actually admirers of his work."

"Well, it should be easy to find out who owns the property," said Blue Impact. She turned and resumed course.

The others looked at each other; Gadgetive happily, Energia neutrally, Vic not sure what was going on.

"She's very good at the online detective work," said Energia, by way of explanation. "Also at the gumshoe stuff, though that's different in costume than for police or PIs."

"Yeah, that last I already knew," said Vic, nodding. "Part of Bureau training is what the difference is and how to do each. Though I'm not really good at any of those."

"Got it!" came the triumphant cry from Blue Impact, a bit later. "Property was sold a few weeks after Abner's death - turned out the guy who let them in had his power of attorney - to a real estate developer. Then, nothing. Which is very strange. Every other property in that neighborhood has changed hands at least twice since then."

"That was years ago!" said Energia, surprised.

"There's a lot of paperwork still to go through," said Blue Impact. "A couple of lawsuits, problems with the utilities, zoning violation complaints... There's also some records which haven't been computerized. I've got both custom software and a couple of contacts in the appropriate city office sorting through things. I suspect the property actually was sold again at least once, but so far haven't tracked down to whom. That could take days or even weeks."

"Just to be safe," said Vic, carefully, "we should at least go take a look. I have the impression that the local cops aren't even being advised there might be a problem for the house."

Perhaps she was hoping to make a favorable impression on the team's gadgeteer.

"We really should check it out," said Gadgetive, doing her best to look like an eager puppy and failing miserably.

"If this is all a mastermind plot," said Blue Impact, slowly and thoughtfully, "we can expect more complications. It's what they do."

"So, we're going?" said Gadgetive, eagerly.

"Yes," said Blue Impact, grinning at her enthusiasm. "We're going. After we clean up a bit. We're still dirty from the fight."

"We should have lunch, too," said Vic. "In all the excitement we missed it."

That idea met with all-round approval.

"Better late than never," said Energia, agreeably.

* * *

The people walking their dogs and tending lawns and flower beds in the upper middle-class neighborhood that afternoon looked askance as the apergy pod silently descended straight down out of the clear sky to park on its wheeled landing gear in front of the incongruous house. However, even when four costumed figures exited to stand at the gate, the attitude of the locals was to obviously think some variation of "Well, of course that place would receive that sort of attention." and to go on about their business. None came over to ask what the masks were doing. None even gave them more than an occasional surreptitious glance.

"No doubt which one it is," said Energia, quietly, as they stood looking at their target.

The sprawling, two-storey house was on a correspondingly large lot. It was not only the oldest structure in the neighborhood, it was the only one of its style, which included a white picket fence. There was a mail box on the gate post, but it was empty, with no name; just the number.

"Wow. Guy must have spent a fortune on this," said Energia, flying up a bit to get a better view. "Even back in the Fifties, this was not a cheap neighborhood."

She looked around.

"I'm surprised someone hasn't bought it and torn it down to build another McMansion."

"It was bought, remember," said Blue Impact. "Not long after Abner Sturgeon died. Supposedly by a real estate developer, who promised to put up a showcase home as soon as he got the funding."

"That sounds familiar," said Energia, smiling as she landed.

"To what?" said Gadgetive, puzzled.

"The wild promises people promoting startups sometimes make," said Blue Impact.

"Well, whoever currently owns it makes sure it's well-maintained," said Vic. "Place looks immaculate."

"Too immaculate," said Blue Impact, frowning. "It's like..."

"Like something from a theme park," said Energia, nodding as she got the team leader's drift.

"I bet there's automated mowers," said Gadgetive, sounding excited.

"So... Do we just knock?" said Vic, uncertainly.

"That works surprisingly often," said Blue Impact.

"Of course, when it doesn't," said Energia, all too cheerfully, "we usually wind up fighting for our lives."

Blue Impact lifted the latch and pushed the classic white-painted gate open. Then jumped back as many things happened rapidly. The least of them being that the gate slammed shut and relatched.

Hatches opened in the sod and menacing looking devices deployed from under the ground. All those on that side of the house were pointed at Blue Impact. Armored shutters rose into place over all the doors and windows, locking solidly into place.

"Attention!" said an amplified voice. "This property is in security lockdown! All intruders will be neutralized and held for the police!"

"I don't believe it!" shouted Gadgetive, excitedly. "They left it intact! The whole thing's here! It must be!"

"Is there somebody in there?" said Energia, loudly.

There was no response.

"The place is supposed to be empty," said Blue Impact, frowning. "This must all be on automatic. Which means the new owner needs to be contacted."

"Yeah, and you won't let me have traps," said Gadgetive, pouting.

"What if Vic identified herself as a federal LEO?" said Energia, frowning in thought. "Is it sophisticated enough to recognize that?"

They tried. Vic help up her badge and identified herself and her agency in a loud, clear voice.

"There is no warrant present," said the same voice. "There is no probable cause. You will not enter this property."

"Yeah, that sounds pretty sophisticated," said Energia, impressed.

"That voice sounds a lot like the big guy who did so many of the voices for the theme park Abner worked for," said Blue Impact. She looked at the team's gadgeteer. "You think you can do anything with this from out here?"

"I'm remembering something a biology teacher I once had told a class," said Gadgetive, with a sour expression. "'Under the most stringently controlled conditions of environment, conditioning and heredity, the organism does what it damn well pleases.'"

"Are you saying this is alive?" said Vic, startled.

"Or close enough as makes no nevermind, as my grandma used to say," said Gadgetive. Her scowl deepened. "There's a reason I don't work with biology."

"So is this a person?" said Blue Impact, firmly.

"Nah," said Gadgetive. She frowned. "Probably not. I mean, I don't think so..."

"Should we try negotiation?" said Energia, grinning.

"No," said Blue Impact. "Right now there's no sign of trouble here. We'll continue to try and find the owner, but for now we just leave this alone. It may have already called the police."

"Nothin' on the police scanner," said Gadgetive, frowning, "though I bet there would be if one of us tried to enter the property."

"What if I flew in?" said Energia.

"Probably react as soon as you crossed the property line," said Gadgetive, nodding. "Not sure how, but some of those things which deployed look pretty formidable."

"Yow," said Energia, mildly.

"Yes," said Blue Impact, nodding. "So we back off and contact the owner."

"Yeah, this looks like it would at the very least call the authorities if someone tried to break in," said Vic, also nodding. "Since it didn't call before we got here, there probably hasn't been any attempt at intrusion. For now we should leave things alone."