Countdown. Part 13

"Took them long enough," Jason muttered. "I thought you guys were supposed to be on top of things."

"I must confess to a deception," Solomon explained. "I uploaded a fifty-two-minute delay into the central Nexus, keyed into my own presence. What they monitored regarding me . . ."

"Had already happened almost an hour earlier," Jason grasped. "Sweet!"

"The stratagem bought us time." Solomon adjusted the navigational controls. "But, alas, they have obviously become aware of the discrepancy."

Donna nodded soberly. "So from here on, wherever we go, they can find us."

"That's going to put a real crimp in our grand tour of the Multiverse," Jason observed. He reloaded his automatic pistol. "We're going to have to fight our way to Palmer."

"No," Solomon said. "That will not be necessary. My brother revealed more than he had intended." He gazed past the transparent walls of the sphere at the h.e.l.lish red maelstrom before them. "I now know exactly where Ray Palmer is."

19 AND COUNTING.

THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE.

"My G.o.d . . ."

Holly stood upon the prow of the Minerva as Paradise Island came into view directly ahead of the private yacht. Grecian temples and palaces gracefully adorned the sloping hillsides of the densely wooded isle, which rose from the sparkling blue waters of the Caribbean like a mirage. Even from miles away, you could tell that the marble buildings were no crumbling ruins; they looked like they were in perfect condition. The pristine elegance of the forbidden isle could not have been more different from the squalid Gotham slums Holly was accustomed to.

"G.o.ds," Athena corrected her. Along with Holly and the other Amazon wannabes, the supposed G.o.ddess gazed out at their destination from the deck of her s.h.i.+p. A crown of electrum rested upon her piled brown curls. "And, yes, it is beautiful. Themyscira, eternal home of the Amazons."

Themyscira was the actual name of what the media had dubbed "Paradise Island." Now that they were almost there, Holly was starting to believe that Athena was the real thing after all. Who else could guide them straight to this mythical location? Wonder Woman's homeland was supposed to be magically hidden from the rest of the world. As far as Holly knew, not even Selina had ever set foot there before.

"Jeepers creepers, will you get an eyeful of that." Harley Quinn stared dreamily at the island as she leaned so far out over the front rail that Holly was afraid she was going to tumble overboard. Despite herself, Holly was starting to warm to the endearingly daffy ex-super-villain. It was hard not to respond positively to the pigtailed blonde's infectiously cheery disposition. "Sure beats a padded cell in Arkham!"

"I'll bet," Holly replied. A warm tropical wind rustled her hair, which had regained its reddish hue now that her temporary dye job had faded away. Like the other initiates, she was clad in the Amazonian armor that Athena had insisted they wear from now on. That struck Holly as a tad excessive, especially on a Caribbean cruise, but maybe the warrior G.o.ddess just wanted them to get used to wearing the heavy armor. What the heck, she thought. When in Themyscira . . .

The yacht rolled beneath their sandaled feet. "I can't wait to get back on solid ground," she admitted. She had gotten over the worst of the seasickness on the first few days of the voyage from Metropolis, but the oscillating deck still made her a little queasy. "How much longer before we dock?"

"We dock soon," Athena informed her. Her silken robes fluttered in the breeze. She strolled away from the rail. "But the rest of you get off here."

"What?" Holly asked. She wasn't sure she heard Athena right. The island was still at least a mile away.

"Your training begins now." Athena raised her voice so that all could hear. "Into the water, my warriors-to-be!"

"Wait a minute!" Holly pointed at the azure waters ahead of the yacht. Scaly green fins cut through foamflecked waves. Serpentine snouts, sporting dagger-sized fangs, occasionally broke the surface before diving beneath the waves once more. Scores of prehistoric sharks and sea serpents infested the churning sea. "What about them?"

"The children of Ketos Aithiopos, mother of all sea monsters. The ancient guardians of our sh.o.r.es." Crossing the deck, Athena extracted metal lances from a wooden bin. She handed the weapons out to the young women she had brought here. "Outswimming them is a worthy test for any aspiring Amazon."

"No way!" Holly refused a spear of her own. Silly her, she had thought that the bin contained life jackets or something. "Anyone who would jump into that is insane."

"Cowabunga!" Harley shouted as she enthusiastically hurdled over the railing. She hit the water below with an enormous splash.

Holly rolled her eyes. "I rest my case."

But Athena wasn't taking no for an answer. She pressed the spear upon Holly, who became acutely aware that, stuck on a boat hundreds of miles from modern civilization, she didn't have a whole lot of other options. Holly watched glumly as, one by one, and with varying degrees of apprehension and excitement, the other girls followed Harley overboard, like lemmings voluntarily racing toward their doom.

So much for a mutiny. Holly grudgingly s.n.a.t.c.hed the spear from Athena's hand. Guess somebody's got to look out for the other newbies. She glanced back at Athena as she clambered over the rail. "Any last words of encouragement?" The G.o.ddess obviously had no intention of getting her own feet wet. "An all-powerful protection blessing would be nice."

Athena seemed amused by the younger woman's irreverence. She smiled slyly. "Aim for the eyes, child."

"Whatever." Holly took a deep breath and jumped feetfirst into the foaming water below. After the sunny warmth of the deck, the sudden chill of her immersion came as a jolt to the system. The bronze armor weighed upon her like an anchor, so she hastily stripped down to the thin white linen tunic underneath. The discarded metal gear sank to the bottom of the harbor, but that was the least of Holly's worries. The authentic Amazon uniform wasn't worth drowning for.

Athena can take it out of my allowance, she thought wryly. Or get her uncle Poseidon to retrieve it for her.

Shedding her sandals as well, she kicked up to the surface, her head breaking above the waves, where she found herself starring in an extremely unnecessary remake of Jaws 3-D. Splas.h.i.+ng about in the ocean, the other initiates desperately tried to fend off the ravenous predators besieging them. The serpents' tails whipped the water into a b.l.o.o.d.y froth, while their voracious maws lunged repeatedly at the would-be Amazons. Holly spared a moment to look for Harley, but failed to locate the Joker's demented ex amidst the aquatic tumult. Salt water splashed against Holly's face and lips. She thanked G.o.d-or the G.o.ds-that Selina had insisted that she learn how to swim....

Who the h.e.l.l does Athena think I am? Aquagirl?

A reptilian head that made Killer Croc look like Kermit the Frog burst from the water only a few waves away. Holly gulped as she stared straight down the bright pink gullet of a monstrous sea serpent. Rows of ivory teeth waited to strip the flesh from her bones. Its fishy breath turned her stomach.

Paddling to stay afloat, she maneuvered the spear into position. Aim for the eyes, she recalled urgently, only to discover that the hideous creature didn't have any eyes, only glistening expanses of scales where its ocular organs should have been. Holly cursed profanely. For a G.o.ddess, Athena gave lousy combat advice.

She jabbed at the monster's snout, but the point of the spear failed to penetrate the serpent's scaly armor. c.r.a.p! She dived beneath the waves just as the creature snapped at the empty air her head had occupied only a heartbeat before. Its rough hide sc.r.a.ped against her bare legs, drawing blood, as she frantically swam away from the hungry beast. Holding on to her breath, not to mention the spear, she stroked underwater for as long as she could before surfacing once more. She thought she was heading toward the distant island, but in the chaos it was hard to be sure. Blinking the salty water from her eyes, she anxiously scanned the horizon.

An appalling sight greeted her. Only a few yards away, a monster-sized shark chomped down on the mangled body of a headless swimmer. Blood and gore exploded from the shark's jaws as the mutilated remains of the nameless runaway fed its bottomless appet.i.te. Despite her own peril, Holly cursed Athena's lethal training methods and "survival of the fittest" ethos. Talk about cutthroat compet.i.tion!

Cutthroat . . .

A crazy idea struck Holly. Spear in hand, she swam toward the murderous shark. Forget the eyes, she decided as she dove toward the creature's exposed underbelly. Aim between the scales. Kicking upward, she drove the spearhead into the shark's throat with all her strength. Gallons of cold blood spurted from the savage gash, rendering the surrounding waters incarnadine. Reversing course underwater, Holly abandoned the spear and put as much distance as possible between herself and the wounded shark before surfacing to inspect her handiwork. Just as she'd hoped, the other sea monsters had been attracted to the huge outpouring of blood, turning on the injured shark in a cannibalistic feeding frenzy. Sharks and serpents alike snapped greedily at each other, momentarily ignoring the insignificant female morsels bobbing in the sea all around them. The children of Ketos were too busy devouring their own. Snapping jaws and ear-piercing wails added to the din.

"Now!" Holly hollered at the other girls. "While they're distracted!"

She spotted the island to the south. The safety of dry land called out to her and, not looking back, she paddled toward Themyscira as fast as her weary limbs allowed. The swim seemed to take forever, and every muscle in her body ached by the time she finally staggered out of the sea onto the sandy sh.o.r.e of Paradise Island. Breathing hard, she spit a mouthful of brine onto the beach. Water streamed from her soggy hair. Her chiton was soaked clean through. The b.l.o.o.d.y sc.r.a.pes on her legs stung like the devil. All in all, she felt more like a drowned rat than a former Catwoman.

But we made it, she thought. That counts for something.

Lifting her head, she was glad to see several other women dragging themselves onto the sh.o.r.e as well. Some of the stronger gals a.s.sisted their weaker sisters. Holly was too exhausted to do a proper head count, but she got the impression that most of her fellow initiates had come through the harrowing ordeal in one piece. She looked around for Harley, but the pigtailed lunatic was nowhere to be seen. A genuine pang of grief caught Holly by surprise.

Aw, h.e.l.l, Holly thought. Guess the little nut didn't make it.

As much as she hated to admit it, she was going to miss . . .

"Hey!" a high-pitched voice squealed gleefully. "Who's up for sus.h.i.+?" Holly spun around to see Harley come wading out of the surf, holding aloft the speared head of a giant shark. The beast's meaty tongue dangled out one side of its gaping jaws. "I'm buying!"

Holly smacked her hand against her brow. She didn't know whether she was happy that Harley was still alive or she wanted to toss the harebrained blonde back into the drink.

Maybe a little bit of both.

Yet her relief that Harley had survived was sullied by the knowledge that not all of the shelter's former denizens had escaped the island's flesh-eating guardians. Holly recalled the shark's anonymous victim and a fresh surge of anger caused her to clench her fists. G.o.ddess or not, Athena had no right to subject vulnerable young women to such blood sports. There's something rotten going on here, Holly concluded, and it's up to me to get to the bottom of this scam before somebody else gets killed. A determined look came over her face as she straightened her shoulders and marched up the beach to begin her undercover mission on Paradise Island. If Athena thinks she can turn me into an obedient little Amazon warrior, she's not as all-knowing as she thinks she is. She's in for a big surprise once I get the goods on her.

After all, that was what Catwoman would do.

APOKOLIPS.

The Armagetto was both the home and prison of the "Lowlies," the planet's oppressed ma.s.ses. Some of the slaves had been born here; others were hostages and prisoners of war from throughout the universe, brought to Apokolips to spend the rest of their wretched existences providing brute labor for Darkseid and his favorites. Cruel overslavers enforced their master's rule, brooking no disobedience-as Jimmy had painfully discovered.

Jimmy trudged through the sooty streets with the other slaves. Their horrific task? Carrying the limp corpses of dead Lowlies to the perpetually blazing Fire Pits, where the anonymous bodies were turned into fuel for the infernos. Knowing that most of the fatalities had dropped dead from pure exhaustion, Jimmy couldn't help wondering if he was destined for cremation as well. He glanced at the slaves working beside him. They pushed on mindlessly, having lost all hope long ago. Their lifeless eyes never lifted from the pavement.

I've got to get out of here, Jimmy thought, before I end up like them.

The hot air seared his lungs. His tattered clothing was soaked with sweat. His stomach growled hungrily; the Lowlies were fed barely enough to stay alive. Jimmy guessed that he had lost at least ten pounds during his captivity. He wearily hurled another cadaver into the fires, then circled back the way he had come. On Apokolips, there was never any danger of running out of fresh corpses. As ever, he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of Forager, but without success; he hadn't laid eyes on the missing insect-woman since awakening to this never-ending nightmare. He prayed that she was still alive, and not just because she was his only ticket home.

"Daydreaming again, little fire-hair?" The shocking sting of an electrified lash cracked against Jimmy's back, eliciting a gasp of pain from his parched lips. An armored overslaver barked at the prisoner, "I've warned you before not to let your attention waver!"

Tell me about it, Jimmy thought, his entire body still quivering from the blow. He was already way too familiar with the jolting effect of the overslaver's lash. He staggered forward, maintaining his place in the alien chain gang. This will make a great expose for the Planet, a.s.suming I ever make it back to Earth.

"Careful with that one, overslaver," Captain Vyle, the commander of the guards, admonished his subordinate. His polished jade armor was more elaborate than those of his fellows as he viewed the scene from atop a levitating platform. A sharklike fin crested his helmet. "The Dread One has commanded that he not be killed."

Come again? Jimmy thought. "Dread One? You can't mean-"

"Silence, worm!" Vyle, whose name matched his nature, descended toward Jimmy, brandis.h.i.+ng his own lash. "That name is not to be uttered by the likes of you!"

Jimmy took that as a yes. But why would Darkseid want to keep me alive?

"I think this one misses his little bug companion," the first overslaver said mockingly.

Vyle chuckled at the bizarre notion of someone actually caring for another. "Perhaps, Sergeant Flaay, we can arrange to have it fed to him."

Their taunts enraged Jimmy. Risking further punishment, he shook his fist at the heartless guards. "What have you done with Forager?"

"I'd curb that tongue, sc.u.m." Vyle stepped off his platform onto the pavement. Reaching down, he grabbed Jimmy by the throat, lifting the scrawny reporter off the ground, Darth Vaderstyle. Up close and personal with the s.a.d.i.s.tic commander, Jimmy was shocked to discover that Vyle had an extra mouth where his left eye should have been. Rows of chomping fangs lined the empty socket. "You may be of interest to the Dread One, but that doesn't ent.i.tle you to answers."

Jimmy stared in horror at the slavering maw beneath Vyle's brow; the surreal image reminded him of a recurring nightmare he'd had as a child. Not wanting to let his captors know how creeped out he was, he tried to muster a show of resistance, just to prove that they hadn't completely broken his spirit yet. "I may not look like much," he warned them, "but I have abilities. Tremendous powers that I'm not afraid to use against you!"

"Hah!" Sergeant Flaay laughed. "See how it bristles!"

"Empty words." Vyle casually tossed Jimmy aside, so that he landed roughly upon the unyielding pavement. The other Lowlies backed away fearfully, lest they also incur the commander's wrath. "The Dread One knows all, including the fact that your so-called powers only manifest when your life is in jeopardy." He sneered with both of his mouths. "Fear not. The overslavers of Apokolips are well schooled in the delicate art of torture. You won't die by our hands, but you may long for death's release!"

Vyle's lash snared Jimmy's feet, yanking him backward so that his skull collided with the pavement. An excruciating jolt of electricity triggered violent convulsions. Jimmy bit down hard on his tongue. The briny taste of his own blood filled his mouth.

"A taste of things to come," Vyle promised. He withdrew the lash, leaving Jimmy stunned and gasping upon the ground. His ankles burned where the lash had wrapped around his bare flesh. Vyle strode back onto his glider before addressing Flaay. "Bring this slug to me when the others crawl back to their cages. I think he warrants special attention."

"Yes, sir, Captain Vyle!" The overslaver saluted the departing commander, then dragged Jimmy to his feet and shoved him back into the line of prisoners. "Gonna be a long day for you, maggot! Your suffering has only just begun." He cracked his whip above Jimmy's head. "Now, back to work!"

Jimmy flinched at the sharp report of the lash. The worst part was, Vyle was absolutely right. His weirdo powers offered no protection from the tortures in store.

Unless . . .

A crazy, near-suicidal idea occurred to him. It was a desperate move, but it seemed the only alternative to a painfully protracted life of ceaseless abuse and servitude. I have to go for it now, he resolved, before I lose my nerve.

Darting from his place in the plodding procession, he sprinted back toward the gaping Fire Pit. The heat from the flames felt like a blast furnace, but Jimmy squeezed his eyes shut and kept on running. "Halt, Earthman!" the startled overslaver shouted. He sounded panicked at the ghastly prospect of his charge dying in defiance of Darkseid's orders. His heavy footsteps pounded after Jimmy. "Have you taken leave of your senses?"

Maybe, Jimmy conceded, but what other choice do I have? The intense red glare of the Fire Pit penetrated his closed eyelids. The blistering heat tried to drive him back, but Jimmy gritted his teeth and hurled himself forward. One way or another, I'm toast....

He flung himself into the burning pit.

18 AND COUNTING.

NEPAL.

Chitwan National Park was once the exclusive hunting grounds of the country's ruling cla.s.s. But now the sprawling forests and gra.s.slands, nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, were a nature preserve encompa.s.sing nearly a thousand square kilometers. Monkeys chattered in the leafy branches of evergreen sal trees while Bengal tigers stalked through shoulder-high elephant gra.s.s. Birdsong competed with the shrill laughter of the monkeys.

Chitwan was also home to one of the world's last remaining populations of the endangered one-horned Indian rhinoceros. Flying through the air alongside Eclipso, Mary spied a small family of rhinos grazing peacefully in a gra.s.sy meadow near a muddy watering hole. The ungainly beasts looked vaguely prehistoric. Their wrinkled hides hung in folds upon their ma.s.sive frames. The curved horns of the adults pointed upward at the clear blue sky.

Unfortunately, the tigers weren't the only predators prowling the brush. Armed poachers, equipped with automatic rifles, crept stealthily toward the unsuspecting rhinos, whose horns were valued on the black market due to their allegedly curative properties. The greedy poachers no doubt hoped to make a killing, in more ways than one.

Not if I have anything to say about it, Mary thought angrily. She and Eclipso kept the sun behind them, so that the fierce glare masked their approach from the gun-wielding hunters below. "Talk about slimeb.a.l.l.s," Mary muttered. Didn't these creeps know that there were less than three thousand Indian rhinos left in the world?

"Go ahead, dear," Eclipso encouraged her. Jean raised her feathered cloak to s.h.i.+eld her face from the sun; the daylight seemed to disagree with her. "Show these mortal swine the error of their ways."

With pleasure, Mary thought. She swooped down toward the poachers even as the men were drawing aim on their defenseless prey. Intent on their targets, they didn't even notice Mary flying above them-until bolts of mystic lightning shot from her fingertips.

The sizzling blasts did not incinerate the men; Mary was more creative than that. Instead she instantly shrank the poachers to the size of squirrels. Lost in the folds of their own oversized clothing, the miniaturized poachers had to scramble to avoid being crushed beneath their own rifles. Their squeaky cries were barely audible.

Serves you right, Mary gloated. Not so tough without your big scary guns, are you?

The freak lightning also startled the wildlife below. Flocks of frightened woodp.e.c.k.e.rs and hornbills launched themselves into the air, while agitated monkeys jabbered noisily. The alarmed rhinos, unaware of their close brush with death, fled in panic, stampeding straight toward the transformed hunters. Mary grinned at the hilarious sight of the tiny naked figures running like mad to avoid being trampled by the pounding hooves of their onetime prey. The discarded rifles were smashed to pieces by the rhinos, who proved that they could run surprisingly fast when motivated to do so. Faster than the little poachers' doll-sized legs?

Maybe.

Mary briefly considered rescuing the shrunken hunters from the rhinos' path. She didn't actually want them to get crushed to death. Did she?

"Brilliantly done, Mary," Eclipso congratulated her. "You're developing a flair for poetic justice. You turned the tables on those cowardly vermin quite effectively."

"Thanks!" Mary basked in her new friend's praise, forgetting all about the micro-poachers' plight. At least somebody appreciated what she was doing these days. Just this morning, in fact, Mary had defended thousands of acres of virgin rain forest from shortsighted loggers and developers. There were over a hundred new trees along the Amazon now, all with anguished human faces. "It feels so good, Jean. So liberating to cut loose with my powers like this."

They soared away from the park, leaving the shrunken poachers to their fate. "That's how it should always feel," Eclipso a.s.sured her. "A few more lessons from me, and you'll be ready."

"Ready for what?" Mary asked. This wasn't the first time Eclipso had alluded to some special destiny awaiting Mary.

Eclipso smiled coyly. "All in good time, dear."

PARADISE ISLAND.

Paradise Island was hardly living up to its name.

If the Athenian Women's Shelter had been like a luxury hotel, Themyscira was turning out to be more like boot camp. Or so Holly thought as she busted her b.u.t.t to complete yet another agonizing obstacle course. Flames erupted along the edges of the track, adding to the sweltering heat of the noonday sun. Holly's chiton was soaked with sweat. Her bare feet pounded against the rough gravel track.

"Keep moving, all of you!" an Amazon drill sergeant berated them from atop a wooden guard tower. The looming towers and barbed wire fences enclosing the training grounds made their new home feel more like a prison than a refuge. Ugly steel barracks and mess halls contrasted sharply with the lovely palaces and temples Holly had glimpsed from offsh.o.r.e. She and the other new recruits had been on the isle for at least a week now, and she had yet to set foot in anything resembling Paradise. "Is that the best you can do, you useless sows? You're pathetic!"

"That's Ms. Pathetic to you," Holly muttered as she dropped to the ground and wriggled beneath rolls of coiled razor wire. The jagged gravel sc.r.a.ped her knees and elbows. The back of her tunic snagged on a metal barb, which dug into the skin underneath. Holly winced, but kept on crawling forward on her belly. She was starting to wish that she had never heard of Athena. . . .

"C'mon, red," Harley Quinn called back to her. Ahead of the pack, the pixieish blonde sprang back onto her feet on the other side of the razor wire. Typically, Harley was treating the h.e.l.lish ordeal like a lark. Glancing back over her shoulder, she grinned encouragingly at Holly. "Compared to prowling around Gotham with Catwoman, this should be a sleepwalk!"

"Your lips to my feet," Holly replied, panting in exertion. At this point, she no longer flinched whenever Harley alluded to Holly's colorful past. Gotham City and the rest of what the Amazons referred to as "Man's World" seemed thousands of miles away. Her fugitive status wasn't even an issue anymore. As far as she knew, Themyscira had no extradition treaty with the United States....