Part Seven

"Oh, dandy," said Blue Impact, the next morning, loudly, from her private corner.

"What?" said Vic, a bit alarmed by the emotion from the older super. She was just leaving the kitchen with a sizable mid-morning snack. The sort of thing which Blue Impact jokingly referred to as "second breakfast."

"Someone found security video of the raid on the dry dock," said Blue Impact, sourly. "I mean, they got video of us sneaking up to the dock; there's not anything showing the dock itself. They've released a heavily edited version of it, claiming it shows 'costumed criminals' committing a robbery, and the local police and Port Authority security agents arriving a few minutes later to arrest us for attacking the crew working on the ship. Of course, the video doesn't show the actual arrests, since that would reveal that we weren't the ones being arrested."

"Say what?!" said Vic, around a mouthful of sandwich. She swallowed. "Wait; could whoever is behind the theft have done this to try and interfere with our search?"

"It's possible. In fact, that's likely what happened. Well, I need to contact MyVid... No, I'll call the Port Authority and the local police. Let them tell the company that they're hosting a libelous video and description. Maybe the company will tell them who posted it."

* * *

The holidays rolled inevitably closer, with a solution to the case still evading those who sought one. Since the season was otherwise quiet - not just in Tricorne's city but all over most of the US - they still couldn't even distract themselves with other hero operations.

"So much of crime fighting depends on plain old luck," said Blue Impact, with a sigh, later, as the bored heroes sat around the lair's entertainment area. "Luck and patience."

"Hey, you found the ship through a combination of perseverance in checking your sources," said Vic, her tone reassuring, "and connecting the dots. We'll get there, if we keep plugging."

"Yes, but it was luck that I was able to find Mano Dura when I did, and luck that he had heard something useful," said Blue Impact, her mood not at all lifted. "Anyway, I'm going to go train some. Call me if there's any news."

* * *

"There's news!" Energia cried, happily, intercepting Blue Impact as she left the exercise room. "The crew of hijacked ship was found alive and in good shape on a beach in Norway. Seems they were given a drug to impair memory transfer from short term to long term and remember very little about the events after the ship left the dock. However! They're all alive and healthy!"

"Well, that is news, and it is good news," said Blue Impact. She was in exercise tights and mask and towel, all very damp, on her way to the elevator. Energia noted, not for the first time, that when she wasn't in costume, her teacher preferred to be barefoot. Considering how tough her skin was, that made perfect sense. "Especially the bit about them not remembering. That means those behind this have things they don't want those people to relate. If we can find what that is... Is there anything about that - the crew being found - on the news right now?"

"Nope. Well, the talking heads are babbling about how they don't know any more about the situation than they've already told people six times."

"Okay. Hmph. It's also bad news, though, in that it means the crew is now unlikely to have any useful information. Anyway, I'm going to grab a quick shower and get into my regular costume. I'll be back down in ten."

"So, why do you say that's bad news?" said Energia, twelve minutes later, when their team leader returned to the ground floor.

"Well, whoever is behind this was smart enough not to kill the crew," said Blue Impact. "That is very good, especially for the crew and their families. However, if they were still missing many different law enforcement agencies would have kept this at a higher priority. Now, instead of a possible mass murder, we have grand theft and kidnapping, with the missing people subsequently released unharmed. That bit with the memory drug was also a typical mastermind touch, so now I'm thinking that at least one of the planners is a super. Either way, them being this smart makes it harder for us."

"Is the difference really that great?" said Gadgetive. "What I mean is, between whether they're known to be alive and fine and not just missing, condition unknown."

"Yes, in the short term especially," said Blue Impact, nodding. "Since there are now no lives at stake, the various government agencies will feel less pressure to prioritize the case. Given that there are current cases where lives are at stake, that makes sense. Priority will now be placed on those cases. Which may be why those behind the theft released the crew. The hijackers are still guilty of some serious crimes, but now have more time to hide their trail because the authorities are focusing on cases where people are actually in current danger."

Vic noted that the older super seemed distracted, and was semi-repeating herself. She figured that was a sign of how seriously Blue Impact was thinking about this new development.

"I wonder if we should do the same," said Energia, thoughtfully. "Focus on emergencies where lives are at stake, I mean."

"Generally, if we're involved in cases where lives are at stake, the danger is very immediate," said Blue Impact. "We're currently free to act on any such situations in our area where the authorities call on us, either specifically or in a general request for help. Otherwise, we need to remember the things we've taught The FX and stay out of the way of the professionals. There are a lot of situations where supers can be a big help, but more where we'd be at best useless."

There was a moment of quiet, which was interrupted by the phone in Blue Impact's private corner. She hurried over and answered. After a few minutes she returned to the others, who were waiting expectantly.

"That was one of my contacts in the police department. The Port Authority security people found several witnesses to the activity around that dry dock, to go with the security camera videos. Oh, and they're still looking into that altered video, by the way. They - the city police - were able to patch together a pretty complete timeline of what happened from right after the ship docked to shortly before our raid.

"Apparently, right after the Storm Defiant entered the dock - even while the water was being pumped out - the industrial equipment and a standard shipping container were offloaded onto trucks. The trucks were then seen leaving the area through an isolated exit from the port."

"Yay!" said Energia, actually lifting into the air.

"They were able to track the loads to a nearby scrap yard. There the police found the construction equipment - and they have notified the local Moldarian embassy of this - and a container matching the description of the missing one. Unfortunately, it was loaded with junk."

"Oh..." said Energia, landing.

"I was also told that several federal agencies have moved in and 'taken charge' of the investigation, but right now they're mostly coordinating the efforts of the locals. Leaving the actual work to the Port Authority, the city police and the supers involved. So, the search continues."

* * *

"Hey," Gadgetive called, from the TV area, later that evening. "You folks remember that ski resort in the Rockies which opened a trail just for superhumans?"

"No," said Energia, startled.

"No," said Vic, curious.

"Oh, yes," said Blue Impact, with tight smile. "I've even thought about trying it. I love to ski and haven't been on a trail in years."

She headed for the TV viewing area, quickly followed by Vic and Energia.

"Well, some non-super idiot went on the trail, got hurt, and is suing the ski resort."

"For what?" said Vic, outraged. "It's somehow their fault that he's stupid?"

"Shush!" said Gadgetive, pointing to the TV.

"It's clearly marked!" said a man identified in an information bar at the bottom of the screen as the resort owner. "I don't understand why this idiot was even on that trail! Or how he got that far along it without realizing it was impossible to complete without powers! One branch is steeply uphill, and is intended for flyers, and that's how it's marked, in multiple places!

"He's not even that experienced a skier. He's gotten in trouble before using the advanced slopes."

"So he has a history of taking on more than he can handle?" said the interviewer.

"Oh, yeah..."

"Huh," said Blue Impact, as the show moved to a different segment.

That was about the most appropriate thing any of the four had to say in regard to that.

However, there was still some time before the lair shut down for the evening. Not long after the ski trail segment, Gadgetive thought of something. Something which even had a connection to a recent case the four of them had all been involved with.

"What's with all these... old ones surfacing now?"

"Bad way to phrase that," said Energia, smirking.

"What?"

"'Old ones' and 'surfacing'?" said Vic, also smirking.

"To answer your actual question," said Blue Impact, as Gadgetive floundered, though the most experienced super in the lair was also smiling, "a lot of the cause is the Shilmek War. It created a huge disturbance which roused the attentions of some things, and also removed several of the 'old ones' who might have been keeping the others bottled up. In some cases literally. Well, unless there's some other matter to address, I'm heading for bed. I'm getting up early tomorrow and I suggest you all do the same. I'm giving this case until Friday; then declaring a break until after the start of the new year."

"So, we'll probably be home for Christmas," said Energia, in a relieved tone.

"Hallelujah," said Vic, with feeling. She might have found Michelle's family coming up short with their efforts to entertain their guest, but she definitely wanted to be there for Christmas eve and day.

* * *

Just after Noon the next day, however, Blue Impact gathered the team together for an important announcement.

"I just got a tip," she said. "A source knows where a semi-trailer with a container fitting the description of the missing one is located. A semi-trailer which, for whatever reason, is being hidden."

"Just how trustworthy is this source?" said Vic.

"It's Artemis Franks," said Blue Impact, sourly. "So, take it with a very large grain of salt. She says one of her company's large, commercial cleaning robots was taken outside the area for which it was rented, so she checked its memory. Just to make sure it wasn't put to any illegal use, mind you. She found that it was used to prepare a small section of an empty warehouse, as well as cleaning the short path from there to the doors. The kicker is, they left the cleaning robot on after it finished and it recorded a loaded semi being brought into the area it had just cleaned. The visual she sent me - a copy of what the cleaning robot recorded - isn't all that clear, but the semi trailer is definitely carrying a shipping container of the right appearance."

"Why didn't she go to the police with this?!" said Energia, outraged.

"She says - and I believe her for this part - that she doesn't want her other customers learning that her rental robots can record what happens around them. So she asked us to keep quiet about her contribution. As to why she told us, well, I can guess. All this attention is bad for any sort of shady activity. She wants it over, in a way which hopefully won't point to her as helping find the guilty party."

"Remember," said Vic, also sourly, "she's smart evil."

"Yes," said Blue Impact. "I suspect she also doesn't want Constantine, himself, to get involved."

"Why would they go to the trouble of cleaning part of the place where it's left, though?" said Energia.

"Perhaps to reduce the chance of someone finding the container later and using trace analysis to track it back to where it was stored," said Gadgetive, frowning in thought.

"I have a sneaking suspicion," said Energia, slowly, "that Miss Franks might have been involved in some of the technical aspects of this crime, without knowing until later who was being ripped off."

"That's entirely possible," said Blue Impact, nodding. "Right now, though, I'm having some of my contacts check the documentation for that warehouse. We won't put an actual presence there, yet. I'll save that for us tomorrow, if the tip pans out."

"Not a lot more time to check on that container before the holidays," said Energia, sadly.

* * *

Yet again, a large contingent of the staff of the Pine Island Academy was gathered to discuss problems. However, the main topic this time had nothing to do with Constantine or Moldaria.

"We now think that Pine chose this location because he somehow learned about the mantle transition zone plume which caused the now dormant volcano Bermuda sits on," said Junker. "The plume is a lot cooler after thirty million years, but there's still plenty of molten material there, not far down, geologically speaking. A small side plume of that rose beneath our location millions of years later, but never reached the surface. That's what made this artificial island and volcano possible. The high levels of trace elements - especially potassium - also made the soil he created from the cooled lava and ash very fertile. Unfortunately, either Pine didn't know about the long-term problems this operation would cause or - like most masterminds - dismissed them as something to solve later."

"I understand that the high proportion of water in this magma is what makes it and the resulting lava so fluid," said Template, trying to sound informed on the matter.

"Yes. That same factor also being why the geological changes are proceeding so quickly, relatively."

"None of this should be a problem for the school, though," said Eve, getting to what was pertinent for their enterprise.

"Not now," said Junker. "Probably not ever. We still need to keep a close watch on the geology of this area, though."

* * *

"Finally found some hard information on the warehouse Artemis Franks told me about," said Blue Impact, formally addressing her teammates in the entertainment area of the lounge the next morning. "That took so long because there were multiple shell companies involved. Turns out the facility is owned by the same people who own the dry dock."

"So, we're going to check it out," said Vic, nodding.

"Where is that warehouse, anyway?" said Energia.

Blue Impact brought up a map on the big TV screen, and used a pointer to show them.

"Wait... that's right back at the same part of the dockyard where we found the ship!" said Gadgetive, outraged. "Just... a couple of buildings past the perimeter the cops searched inside!"

"Yeah," said Blue Impact, nodding. "Which was likely deliberate. I believe those responsible for the theft of the treasures used the damage remaining from the Tritonicus clone's attack to covertly buy the property, and the work to repair the damage as cover to switch the legitimate trailer for an identical one filled with junk. Probably on the fly."

"Then they just rolled up with the fake trailer and loaded it onto the ship," said Vic, nodding slowly. "The ship's crew was honest and no-one was supposed to know what was in the trailer, except that someone in the government leaked it. Since what the crew thought was the right trailer arrived at the right time, they just loaded it and left. Only to have the ship hijacked to extend the time the thieves had to hide the real trailer... or whatever idea the mastermind planning all this intended."

"Why didn't the Moldarians have a tracker inside the real trailer?" said Energia, throwing her arms wide.

"Everything was supposed to be low-key," said Blue Impact. "Though, yeah, there are plenty of GPS trackers used for ordinary cargoes. Maybe there was one in the cargo and it was switched with the trailer. We can work out the details later."

"Remember," said Vic, seriously. "That warehouse is still private property. Since all we currently have is suspicions about what's in there, we have to see a crime in progress before we can enter the property."

"Fortunately, the standard of suspicious activity is pretty low in this case," said Blue Impact, nodding. "According to my contacts, the manager of that set of properties says the warehouse is currently empty, and they're trying to rent it. So any activity is arguably illegal use of the property."

"That's a bit... thin," said Vic, frowning.

"It's still valid. We observe from a public area, in as many ways as we can. If we see something suspicious, we go onto the property - stealthily, most likely - for a better look."

"We're not going to work with the police and dock security again?" said Gadgetive.

"No, for several reasons," said Blue Impact, ticking them off on her fingers. "First, we don't need them. This isn't a ship in a dry dock with dozens of laborers around. It's a shipping container on a trailer, left alone in an isolated warehouse, most likely to avoid attracting suspicion until things cool down. We observe from a distance, like I said. If we see a good reason for closer investigation - as vetted by Vic - then we go in. Though we may wait until we're sure there's no-one around, first. There's a good chance we can get in, check it out and leave without anyone noticing.

"Second, we're running out of time. We four can check this out and verify whether it is the target in, hopefully, just a few hours. Without the complication of involving local law enforcement or, worse, any federal agents beyond Vic. Even if we have to stake it out for a while, we should still be able to decide one way or another before the end of the week.

"Third, I'm worried about leaks. I don't think anyone leaked our raid on the dry dock, but after that those responsible would be foolish not to have at least one way to monitor for similar activity. With the new personnel who have been added on to the case since we found the ship, that would be easy."

She looked at Vic expectantly. The federal agent sighed.

"You're putting me on the spot, here," she said. "Yeah, if it goes down the way you say, it would be legal. Just remember, we have to see something which provides reasonable cause for action before we can even send a drone onto private property."

"How high does a drone have to fly to be considered in legal air space?" said Gadgetive, frowning. "'Cause some of my drones can fly pretty high and aircraft aren't allowed over that area except for medevac and such."

"I'll look it up," said Blue Impact.