“You big ugly brutes,” I yelled. “Are you too weak to kill an unarmed civilian?”

  The lead slug sneered. I didn’t think he could understand my words. It was the notion that I was being defiant that annoyed him. Something about that pleased me greatly.

  He raised a hand and shouted something. The others behind him rose and aimed their weapons at me. The moment his hand dropped, I heard the reports of the rifles but felt nothing. I opened my eyes to see Keely standing in front of me. Her body shielded me from their fire. As the slugs roared again with anger, she turned to me.

  “Thank you, but you have to go. The bomb is ticking. It has seconds left by this point. Fly fast and true and you’ll be safe,” I said in a pleading manner.

  She tilted her head and smiled. In a blurring dash, she left me. But instead of fleeing, she tore into the airship’s remains and exited seconds later with the massive bomb in her hands. Switching positions, she held the structure of the weapon with one hand and began spinning. Like a child’s top, she spun until all features blended together. Then the image tilted and in a blast of wind and sound, the bomb was released.

  Henry the 8th shot skyward, straight up until I lost sight of it. The slugs didn’t speak or fire upon us, apparently as mesmerized by her actions as I was. Realizing that the blast was seconds away, I shouted to the airship’s crew.

  “Cover your eyes!”

  The explosion produced a blinding flash that made my eyes, even though they were covered by my hands, see spots. A minute later, the shockwave hit us, knocking the breath from my lungs and deafening me. The last thing I heard before my ears rang was the screams from the slugs, blinded by the unexpected light. I could only imagine that most were still watching Henry’s climb when the isotopes fused and ignited.

  Dazed, I stood and looked about. The Captain and crew stepped into the open, looking skyward. When I turned to the slugs, they were holding their eyes and staggering about. With four eyes, the flash would have affected them more. And then I looked at her and saw the light. She was drenched in the light, as was the ground around her.

  Looking up, the spherical fireball shrank, but the bigger effect was still under way. Henry’s blast had produced a shockwave that spread out in all directions, like the waves on water when disturbed by a tossed rock. The shockwave pushed the black clouds away, opening the heavens above up. Sunlight, not seen in this force in many months, fell upon the Earth again for miles around us.

  When I looked back to her, Keely’s arms were stretched out and her head thrown back. Her skin soaked in the abundant light and in short order, began to glow. Her feet left the ground as she rose and hovered a couple of feet above the scorched dirt. With each passing moment, the glow of her flesh grew brighter. What little of the scorched clothing of still clung to her, smoked briefly before disappearing in a flash of brilliant flames. Free of obstruction, her body soaked up even more of the rays and I realized that her powers were growing beyond measure. She wasn’t just stronger and tougher than a human, she was a goddess. Keely, like a flower, blossomed before our eyes into her true self, the superhero, for lack of a better term, she was meant to be.

  She looked at me and pointed to the airship, “Get inside. Be safe. I handle the slugs.” When I hesitated, she dashed to me and looked into my eyes. “Please. Be safe.”

  “Whatever you do. Whatever happens, I want you to know that … I love you.” I confessed and saw her radiant lips curl up into a smile.

  When I stepped back toward the wreckage, she bit her lip and nodded. “Thomas Laybourne, Keely love you.”

  She shot skyward briefly, almost disappearing out of sight before slamming down like a lightning bolt into the mechanized vehicle. The thing exploded violently, peppering the slugs around it with debris. From the cloud of smoke, she shot out and rocketed a few feet above the ground, slamming into slugs and their weapons.

  “She’s giving us a chance, boys,” the Captain shouted. ‘They’re still blinded from the blast. Open up on ’em”

  The slugs ran to and fro trying to stay out of Keely’s way, but now found themselves under fire from the Firebrand’s crew. The confused aliens staggered about, blinded and stunned. They were easy targets for Keely and the guns of the crew.

  I dashed into the wreckage and watched her go. Plumes of smoke arose from the cannons as she destroyed each one with ease. When she flew overhead, I darted to the backside of the wreckage and watched her go after the anchored barges along the coast. Keely circled around and shot straight at the side of the far-most vessel, so close to the waterline that her flight whipped the waters into the air. She slammed into the barge, passing straight through into the next. One by one, the barges jerked violently as she tore through the entire line. Before she had gone through the last one, the first had already sunk.

  When they first arrived, no human force had stood their ground against the slugs. Their victories were complete, total, and achieved quickly without loss to themselves. For the first time, they found themselves on the opposite side of that kind of battle.

  And she never tired. Despite the amount of power she used in her attacks, the sun continued to feed her the necessary energy to remain the dominate force in the fight. By the end, Keely was on her feet, striking down the Otherworlders one at a time. Punching them so fiercely that one blow was enough to end them for good.

  *****

  I sat in my study and sketched out an idea for the latest airship. I knew that my focus should be on the project, but as she always did during the mid-afternoon, Keely distracted my attention from the papers. With the second anniversary of the Battle of Wissant approaching, the Queen planned a major celebration with Keely and me as honored guests. I knew I’d lose another week of work as a result.

  She danced about in the backyard in her favorite white dress. Upon word of our victory, our factories began churning out more of the isotope bombs, Henry’s cousins as we called them. One by one, the smoke factories in Europe were destroyed. Keely and I flew with each bomb, ensuring its arrival. And on some missions, we ended up fighting in lop-sided battles that she won for Britannia.

  Our victory at Wissant was just a small wave that had begun a tsunami of human resistance. The war still raged on, but with the continent cleared of their factories, the skies over Britain were mostly free of the black smoke. Sunlight, along with hope had returned to our isle.

  We found allies throughout the globe. Japan, Cuba, and many other island nations had been spared invasion by the slugs. Using them as staging points, the Empire fought back to reclaim the fallen nations of humanity.

  The Admiralty had not been pleased with me when I insisted that Keely retire from the war effort for a few months, but when the Queen heard the joyous news she put her foot down. Someone, early on after the battle, had claimed Britain would need an army of super-humans like Keely.

  The notion still makes me chuckle to this day. I laid my pencil down and resigned myself to the knowledge that I’d get no more work done today. Instead, I stared out at her like I always do. The first hints of a baby bump showing through the thin cotton material reminded me to never give up hope. She and I would not produce an army, instead we’d start a family.

  With the daily sunlight providing a constant stream of power, she didn’t need to be outside as much, chasing down the few spots of sunlight in the manner that way. Still, she loves it and I never tire of watching her out there, in the back yard, dancing in the sunlight.

  Catching Steam

  Andrea Judy

  It's the damnedest thing, Rowan," the doctor muttered as he washed his hands, "I can't pinpoint an exact cause of death, but there's damage around the heart like there would be from frostbite."

  Rowan frowned, looking over the body of the non-descript, middle-aged man on the slab. She peered into the open chest cavity, "External trauma?"

  "None." He wiped his hands dry, "There's nothing externally or internally wrong with him aside from the frozen tissue and that he's dead."

  "Is that why the boss called me in?"

  "Yeah, she thinks this one falls firmly into your lap," he said.

  "Just because it's strange doesn't instantly mean it's something from a superhuman."

  "Frozen heart inside of a dead guy? In this case, yes, I think it does. This is something for your department to investigate."

  She rolled her eyes and stepped around the body. “Anything else unusual? Markings? Bruising? Anything to show signs of a struggle?”

  The doctor shook his head. “Aside from some freckles behind his ear.” He tapped on the back of the man’s ear where four small, dark brown dots were. “This is all the information we’ve got so far. A crew’s already out to talk to his family and if you want to look at the hotel room, better move fast. The owner’s not real receptive to cops being there.” He thrust the file into her hands. “Good luck."

  "Thanks," she muttered, tucking the file under her arm and heading up to her office. She pushed the dog-eared pile of fashion magazines from her desk onto the floor and spread the papers out. Doc’s report just repeated everything he’d told her so she shoved that to the side and focused on the preliminary report.

  “Name: Calvin Perry

  Occupation: Train Conductor

  Body found at the Clairmont Hotel at 9:30 am by housekeeper. His shirt and jacket were off and the first button of his trousers was undone." She frowned. The only evidence listed were what looked to be Calvin's items.

  "Clothes undone and at the Clairmont?” She shook her head. “Thought he was getting lucky with a working girl then gets offed." She grabbed her pink jacket from the hook on the wall and buttoned it up to the lace neck. She paused in front of the mirror to adjust her bronze lipstick and pulled her white silk gloves over her dark skin before scooping the file into her arms and walking straight to her boss’ office. She knocked firmly, cursing when a stray piece of wood snagged her glove.

  “Come on in, Rowan,” Her boss, Lila, called.

  Rowan stepped inside as she worked to smooth the snag back down against the fabric. “I’m going to go over to the Clairmont and see if there’s anything else there.”

  Lila pushed her wild brown hair from her face. “Are you really wearing that jacket to go on a police investigation? You’re a cop, not a model.”

  Rowan shook her head. “Is that it?”

  She sighed. “No, I’ve got a partner for you.”

  "Partner? With all due respect, you know I don't work well on teams."

  “Yes. I remember what happened last time we tried. That's why you're not getting a team. Hell, you're not even getting a person."

  She gave a sharp whistle and there was a scratching sound of metal rubbing over wood. Clanging from the back of the room, a pile of scrap metal bolted towards Lila, nearly plowing into her ankle before she leaned down to pick it up and set it on her desk. The metal pieces rattled before turning towards Rowan.

  A copper and bronze cylinder tilted from one side to the other and a small-hinged jaw opened closed with a creak, blunt metal teeth clicked together but its mouth didn’t look big enough to cause much harm to anything. Two glass beakers sat atop the cylinder, each wired with a red and a green light. Between the eyes was a thin yellow needle that swung from side to side. Its body was a larger orb, connecting the head to four legs with a series of springs and heavy, flat feet. Steam oozed from its neck and a few gears clicked together rapidly as the needle swung towards Rowan and the green lights in its eyes lit up.

  "What in God's name is that?"

  "This is our newest device to help you out. R&D came up with it and they need it field tested."

  "But what is it?" Rowan hesitantly stepped closer to the little thing. "It's not big enough to do much good."

  "It's not meant for combat."

  "Then what's it for?" She looked over the creature again.

  All the gears and slim metals pieces meshed together in a clashing of bronze, copper and silver. Its lights flashed green again.

  "This is the Blood Hound prototype. It collects and detects spikes in energy caused by superhuman events and can identify if someone is a superhuman."

  "It can track that?"

  "That's what it was built for. We need to field test it, so say hello to your new partner and look, it likes you.” Lila laughed as the lights flashed green rapidly.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means it’s positively identified you as a superhuman.”

  Rowan jumped back when it gave a metallic, hollow sound.

  "They made it bark?"

  "You know the gals over in R&D go above and beyond the call."

  She shook her head, "This is ridiculous, you know that right?" she sighed, "Alright. Well, come on then…little thing.” She hesitantly picked it up. “Does it have a name?"

  "Just Blood Hound."

  "We'll come up with something better." She looked at the little robot dog in her arms, "Now, come on, let's go give the crime scene a look over."

  She went back by her office to collect the keys, pausing to grab a dark purple ribbon and tie it in a bow around the robot’s neck. She smiled at the little, mechanical dog. "Think I'm going to call you Bee, you like that?"

  The robot tilted its head and gave a soft bark as Rowan grabbed a matching ribbon and tied it around her head, pushing her short Afro back. “There, now we’re partners.”

  She tucked Bee comfortably under her arm and headed out to the old three-wheel motorbike. The front was set wide, balanced on two wheels with a fogged up light and a hand-controlled horn. She opened up the body of the bike, made out of an old trunk and checked over the engine tucked safely inside. She adjusted the vents cut into the side of the trunk before she poured a large bottle of water into the water chamber. She slammed the trunk closed, using the leather straps to firmly tie it. She put Bee onto the back of the bike, in the leather carrying bag balanced over the large back wheel. She turned the key and the engine sputtered before it hissed to life, shaking wildly as she climbed onto the seat and kicked up the stand.

  The bike shuddered under her before lurching forward and onto the boulevard. She swerved through the streets, darting around cars, buses and pedestrians as she whipped through the city and east to the old hotel. She pulled into a parking lot and gave a nod to the women milling around the area; they whispered “Police” and pointed before scattering.

  She kicked the stand back down and carefully parked the bike before pulling Bee out and setting it on the ground. She smoothed out her trousers and the lace collar of her jacket. She took out her badge stepped inside with Bee close at her heels. The clerk's face immediately scowled when he saw Rowan approaching. "Can I help you with something?"

  "I'm with the police. I'm here about the body found earlier today." She held her badge out to him.

  “I’ve already told the police everything I’ve got to say.” He snatched the badge from her hands and looked over it before giving it back. “Y’all being here’s bad for business.”

  “Well, help me out and I’ll be out of here easy as you’d like.” She offered an easy smile.

  “Got nothing else to say.”

  “Can I at least speak to the housekeeper who found him?”

  He looked Rowan over before he pressed a button on the intercom. "Linda, down here now."

  "You can wait in the back room," he gestured, "And leave out the back door, too."

  Rowan shook her head, but didn't say anything as she and Bee walked into the back lobby. The paint peeled from the walls and the scent of mold lingered in the air. Five minutes later, an older woman walked into the room.

  Rowan got to her feet. "You must be Linda."

  "Ah, yes. You are?" the woman slowly offered her hand.

  Rowan took it with a firm shake, "Rowan. I'm an officer."

  "Well, pleasure to meet you Miss Rowan."

  "You're the one who found Mr. Perry this morning?"

  She paled and slowly sank to the chair. "I am. Was the most horrible thing I've ever experienced. I had never seen a dead body before."

  "Was there anything you noticed?"

  She shook her head. "He was so pale. Almost blue. He didn't look human. I took one look at him and screamed for the police."

  "Do you know how long he'd been here?"

  "Oh, he'd just checked in that night. Had me bring him extra towels; said he was gonna have company and to bring two plates of dinner."

  "And did you see anyone when you brought dinner by?"

  She thought. "I think I saw red hair and maybe a blue dress? But he opened and closed the door real fast so I didn't get a good look. I'm not sure about that, might just be my old eyes playing tricks."

  "Is there anything else? Anything at all?"

  She sighed. "I don't think there is, honey. What do you think happened to him?"

  "That's what I'm trying to find out, but whatever it was, it wasn't good."

  "Well, I hope you find it. A man being killed like that ain't right, no matter what he'd done," Linda said.

  "What he'd done?"

  Linda looked away, "I just mean..." she glanced at Rowan, "You know this hotel is where all the girls meet their clients, right?”

  “I do. Thank you though.” Rowan jotted down a few notes, "Do you think I could see the room?"

  "Oh, no. I'm sorry but Mr. Roberts has shut down that room, doesn't want anyone in it, police or otherwise."

  "That's alright. Could I see the skeleton for the hotel at least? See if it’s something the murderer could have copied?"

  She frowned, but nodded. "I don’t see what good that’d do, but yes, I can get that for you." She stepped back into the main part of the hotel before returning with the large key. "Here you go."