"Captain Frake, we have hard radar contact coming up fast on starboard."
A pursuit ship?"
"No. Sensors indicate it to be...a humanoid life form in free flight."
"In gulf space? That's hard vacuum! Are you sure of your readings?"
"See for yourself. Solitary humanoid life-form, winged female. Here, I have it on visual."
"Ah, I see her. That explains it; she's a Starhavenite. They're bred for deep-space travel. I...think I recognize her. That's Dawnstar, from the Legion of Super-Heroes."
"She's alone - and hailing us on a tight-beam transmission."
Captain Frake frowned at the image; the slight figure was clad quite extraordinarily; her customary yellow, fringed bodysuit was replaced by a black leather lace-up front bustier and thong with knee boots.
"Requesting permission to come aboard the Antares Twin."
"Requesting permission? How formal. Odd for a Legionnaire to travel alone. Do sensors show any homing device? Any weapons?"
"Nothing, and not so much as a dagger. She's clean all across the boards."
"What's she up to? All right, acknowledge, and tell her airlock seven will be opened for her. Let's see what our mystery guest wants."
"Let me get this straight; you used to call yourself Dawnstar, now you're Frostwing; you resigned from the Legion of Super-Heroes and now want vengeance -"
"No, not vengeance. REVENGE."
"-revenge on one of them. For that reason, you searched me out."
"That's pretty much it."
"But why should I trust you?"
"I can't give you any reason to, but consider this - the Legionnaires think you dead. I know better. I could all too easily have led them to you."
"True. All right then, what do you want from me?"
"What I want is to make a deal. I'll serve as your pilot; in exchange, you give me a weapon that will destroy an energy being."
"Destroy an - ? Easier said than done, I'm afraid. Let me think."
The pirate woman stared into Frostwing's eyes for several moments. The coldness of her gaze belied a sudden smile.
"There is a...tool used as an energy disperser, used by...various people as a defense against lightning. With some adjustments, that could be effective on a life form."
"That sounds promising. Where can I get it?"
"I'm afraid you don't understand. I get it for you, but only after you earn it."
"That's exactly what I expected. Take me on as your pilot."
"I can't guarantee that, but I will think it over quite thoroughly. Starhavenites have excellent reputations as navigators; that's certainly in your favor. In the meantime, you can use starboard room #13 as your berth. It's being used for storage right now, so you'll have to clear it out first, but..."
"Understood."
Frostwing got to her feet and strolled away. Captain Frake stared after her for a moment before brushing her hand over a nearby switch.
"Did you get all that, Dorebak?"
"Aye, captain. Do you trust her?"
"Per...haps. Starhavenites are abysmal liars; plus, her hate for the Legionnaire Wildfire is all too real. She's a woman scorned."
"Ah, I know how the saying goes. Is that all, captain?"
"No. There's one other thing. Tell Mudgelt he can have his way with her as often as he wants until we reach port again. I want her thoroughly soiled by the time we return to New Tartuga."
The Antares Twin was a small ship, especially in comparison with the bulk freighters that transported vast quantities of hydrogen. It was designed for speed and maneuverability. It had three decks; the top for crews' quarters, the middle for storage, and the bottom for maintainence. Basically saucer-shaped, it had a single main engine and a pair of subsidiary thrusters.
Room #13 - strictly speaking - didn't exist. It was a name given by the crew to any of the compartments situated directly over the engines. This was where Frostwing, after being given a hurried tour of the ship, was now shifting crates around to make it into reasonably comfortable quarters. Her efforts had created a roughly circular chamber, though she was too tired when done to take notice of this.
The corridor ouside was far from empty even late this night. One humanoid figure, Mudgelt, was particularly obvious as he moved quickly toward room #13. A thin man, he had a noticeable limp from a poorly-healed leg wound, which only served to enhance his image as anything but a gentle soul.
Behind him, a number of crewmen followed eagerly, anticipating the moments when they'd hear his physical assault and the broken sobbing that was sure to follow. They crowded close as he forced room #13's door open and stepped inside.
For a moment there was nothing. Then the sound came, but it wasn't what they expected; a single scream broke the silence, then Mudgelt rushed back out, one hand covering his bloodied groin.
In the doorway, Frostwing watched him stagger away, her features impassive. The fingers of her right hand were tight around the hilt of a thin-bladed knife she'd smuggled from the galley.
"Did you really believe me so foolish that I wouldn't expect such an action?" she scorned. "Anyone else want to try their luck?"
"Frostwing..."
The words were spoken so softly they should not have wakened her, yet they did, even though she was dreaming at the time.
At least she thought they'd roused her from sleep. But then she glanced down to see her body resting quietly on the padding on the floor, and realized this was not only a dream, it was much more.
"Frostwing..."
"Grandfather." The term was one of respect, not an indication of actual blood relationship. She had no idea whether the speaker was an ancestor or not.
"You know this is wrong."
"Wrong? Wrong to take vengeance, no, revenge against one who so deeply wronged me?"
"No, that is no less than I would demand of you. If you did not repay this, I would disown you. But you are following the wrong path. By allying with this worthless woman, you are insuring that the revenge you seek will be returned against you by those who were until recently your compatriots.
"Revenge is best when personally accomplished. Your best choice lies not with this person, but with one of the leviathans known as moon-swallowers."
"Moon-swallowers? I don't understand. Those are hydrogen freighters. What good is one of those?"
She got no answer to that.
It was the first time she'd viewed one of the massive bulk hydrogen freighters closely -and she wasn't impressed at what she saw.
The McCauley Terraformers Corporation insignia prominently displayed on the aptly-named moon-swallower indicated the purpose behind such a gargantuan vessel; hydrogen was supplied on a planetary scale to be combined with oxygen to create seas of fresh water, after which a new world could be developed for humanoid settlement.
The leviathans were unmanned; their hydrogen cargo was simply too dangerous for a living crew. One spark could turn a ship into a miniature sun. That, and the length of an average voyage, two months or longer, much longer, made a computer controlled ship a necessity.
'Yesss...there's enough explosive capability here to disperse his energy form beyond his ability to re-form himself. Perfect.
'Yet...This isn't really what I want. He humiliated me. For that the fitting punishment is for me to humiliate him as much as possible...and I think I know just the way to accomplish that.'
"Madame Nal, may I say that the CityStar is honored by your beauty? Your presence at our humble restaurant is an inspiration to us all."
"You may say. I trust you've reserved a table for two?"
"As per your instructions. Do you wish something to drink while waiting for your guest?"
"Thank you. A glass of Silverale would be nice."
The waiter bowed and scurried away. Nura scarcely noticed him as he departed. She was about to turn her gaze to the outside view when a clamor of voices drew her attention.
"Hey! You can't come in here dressed like that!"
'Ah! Unless I miss my guess, that should be her.'
"Good to see you, Frostwing; although I do wish you'd kept your name of Dawnstar."
"It no longer suits me. I'm glad to see you came. I wasn't sure you'd be here."
"Well, we may never have been as close friends as we could have, but that could still change. I got your message, and simply couldn't resist the temptation. What's my part in this scheme of yours?"
"It's simply this; you have enough scientific learning to program a computer, right? I want you to reprogram the computer that holds the design for Wildfire's containment suit. Here's the specifics."
Nura glanced at the first lines of hastily written script. A slight smile worked its way across her lips, followed by an increasingly loud giggle."
"Oh, this is so...oh, I don't know...shall we say wicked? I'll see to it soon as I leave. Poor Wildfire!"
"Wildfire? Your new containment suits are here. I'm afraid there's been some alteration in the latest batch.."
"Really? Such as?"
The suit he pulled out was pastel pink, slimmer than his usual ones, had pronounced breasts and hips - in short, completely feminine, with a form that could well have been made to Dream Girl's measurements.
"What the sprock is this?"
"It's going to be standard wear for quite a while - at least until we can correct the computer programming. That may take months or even years. Oh, by the way, these were dropped of by Frostwing. She said she'd be stopping by to see you for old times' sake."
Even as far away as she was, she swore she could hear Wildfires's scream of rage...
The end.
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