Ultrahuman 01 - Ugly (27 page)

‘Sharon looks kind of vacant.’

‘Sharon
is
kind of vacant,’ June said, keeping her voice down again, ‘but you’re an Ultra. Try for determined, or intense, or… or imagine Bobby’s standing beside Jon’s shoulder and you want him to jump your bones right this minute.’

‘June!’

‘What? It’s all about attitude. Your thoughts come out in the picture, really. I’ll be imagining Red’s standing there.’

‘I think that’s enough,’ Jon said, getting up from where he had been kneeling and walking over to a small table to swap the memory card on his camera. ‘June, you’re up.’

June began walking toward the lounger Sharon had been using. Each step put more swing in her hips as she got into character. Penny watched her, taking in as much detail as she could. It seemed like her friend was right: it was all about the attitude. Jon seemed to be giving her a little less instruction than he had Sharon: ‘turn here,’ ‘look left,’ ‘perfect…’

Penny moved to a position just behind Jon’s left shoulder to watch. The photographer did not seem to mind. June did not seem to mind either; her gaze shifted to look at Penny, which was not enough away from the lens to spoil the shots. Penny swallowed; June’s eyes were positively smouldering. Her lips parted, she reached up and pushed her hair up and back, the action pushing her chest out. If June was imagining Red standing there then… Well that was fine, but Penny got the impression that June was posing for her, not the Huntress. There was a look in her eyes, an aching longing for something just beyond her reach…

‘I think that’ll do,’ Jon said suddenly. Penny shook her head, wondering how long he had been snapping pictures, or rather how long she had been staring at June. ‘I’m not sure how many of those we’ll be able to use,’ the photographer added. ‘We don’t want men stalking you after seeing them, but they were excellent.’ He looked over his shoulder at Penny. ‘Think you can do something like that?’

‘No, but I can try.’

‘If you can do half as well we’ll have some good shots.’

‘Right.’ Penny’s legs felt oddly rubbery as she swapped places with June. Going to bed tonight was going to be extra tough.

New Millennium City, MD.

‘There’s something that would probably increase sales,’ Roger Peters said from his place beside the cash register at the back of the store.

Andrea looked over at him. He was reading a newspaper, somewhere around page five. ‘What’s that, Roger?’

‘That Russian Ultra, Svetilo, has organised some calendar shoot in Miami.’

‘I heard about that, so?’

‘She’s got that new girl, Cygnus, doing it. Now, if we could get her in here signing a few comics, we could have queues out the door.’

In truth, queues out the door would not have taken much; Radium Comics was not a large shop. ‘I think she works nights,’ Andrea replied. ‘Probably has a day job. The only time she’s been seen in daylight was on a Saturday. You’d have to open out of normal hours.’

Peters folded his newspaper. ‘It might be worth it. Things have been a little tight recently.’

‘Oh…’ Andrea bit her lip, wondering whether she should say what was springing to mind. Cygnus already knew who she was, but was this giving away a little too much? ‘She goes to the Huntress’ Den on a Friday night fairly often. I… I suppose I could ask her if I saw her there.’

Peters looked at her, his eyes narrowing. ‘Think she would?’

‘I have no idea. The little bits of interview I’ve seen… she’s no publicity hound, but she might take the opportunity to meet people and promote that calendar.’

‘Okay… I don’t really think I should be asking you to do this, but… if you see her…’

‘No harm in asking,’ Andrea suggested. ‘Just so long as this isn’t just to get a close-up look at a tall blonde in a next-to-nothing costume.’

Peters hand clutched at his chest melodramatically. ‘Andrea, you wound me.’

Andrea turned back to her inventory taking with a grin on her lips. ‘Sure. Right…’

Miami, FL.

Dom was going over the stills taken over the last two days, flicking through them rapidly on a tablet computer, when Penny and June joined the others for dinner. Every so often she would pause, examining a frame more closely, and then move on.

‘We have some excellent shots here, girls,’ the Russian said. She turned her gaze to June. ‘You in particular, June, have a knack for this kind of shoot, I think. If someone looked at me the way you looked into the camera, I should be a puddle on the floor.’ Dom’s eyes flicked to Penny; Jon had been talking.

‘Tomorrow,’ Dom went on, ‘we will give some of you a rest day. Shona, June, and Cygnus will be going out to the Everglades with me. Everyone else can work on their tans. Susan will be calling you in to check the fits on some lingerie we want to use for interior shots.’

‘You want me in a swamp?’ Shona asked.

‘Oh yes. We have something special which your physique is perfectly suited to. And you will get to meet Ever who will make sure neither mosquitos nor alligators try to take a bite out of you.’

‘Well, that’s a comfort.’

~~~

Penny found herself lingering in the bathroom. She took extra time to brush her teeth, and then found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror for a long time. She knew she was putting off climbing into bed with June; she knew it, and Cygnus wanted her to get over it. Cygnus wanted her to walk in there and seduce her friend. June was Penny’s friend; Cygnus wanted a lover. What made it really hard was that Penny knew that June wanted the same.

‘Fuck you,’ Penny whispered to the mirror, ‘cuddling is all you’re going to get.’

Turning, she marched into the bedroom and around the bed. She slipped in under the covers without saying anything and turned on her side, facing away from June. There was a slight pause and then June shifted over, curling up behind Penny’s… no, against Cygnus’ back.

‘You don’t mind, do you?’ June whispered.

‘No… of course not.’ Reaching out, Penny turned off the lights and there was silence for a minute or two.

‘June?’ Penny said, her voice soft.

‘Uh-huh?’

‘When you were up on the roof doing all that smouldering at the camera…’

‘Yeah?’

‘You were imagining that Red was there, right?’

There was a tiny pause, barely perceptible, but definitely there. ‘Yeah. Of course I was.’

Penny closed her eyes. ‘Okay,’ she said, accepting the lie. ‘Night, June.’

‘Night, Pen.’

New Millennium City, MD, 11
^th
November.

Twilight watched men carrying boxes down out of a disused shop in Churchton. The north end of the district had been one of the earliest parts of the city to be built; there had been a need for housing for construction workers and, even more than the rest of the area, this part had fallen into disrepair once Friendship had been built. The buildings were, for the most part, tall and bleak; urban sprawl at its worst with many an unused commercial enterprise.

The thought occurred that she had not taken down a group like this without Cygnus in a while. With the brightly dressed, bulletproof flyer around life got easier. She was going to have to do this the hard way, but it was how she had worked for a year before they had teamed up.

Turning, she stepped into one shadow and instantly stepped out of the shadow of the van they were loading. The driver was waiting impatiently in the cab for the others to finish. He did not see her, even when she stepped up to the side of the open cab and smacked one of her batons over the back of his head.

Slipping silently to the rear of the van, she glanced out toward the shop. There were no lights visible through the open door. They were working from the dim light managing to get in from the street light. She waited until the four loaders were either at the van or walking to it, and then she shadow-stepped into the building.

The place was coated in dust, aside from the places on the floor and shop counter where boxes had been sitting. Moving quickly, Twilight grabbed a box and ducked behind the counter with it. It was heavy, despite being only about eighteen inches wide by ten high. A small knife taken from her belt slit the tape holding the box closed and she opened it up. Bank notes looked up at her. They looked real, but why would someone be moving boxes of money at two in the morning if they were not bogus? Why hide them in an old newsagent’s shop? She sniffed; the smell of fresh ink was, perhaps, a little
too
strong.

‘Hey, weren’t there ten boxes left?’ The voice came from the other side of the counter. Someone in the group was more observant than the usual for Tonaldo goons.

‘You sure?’ a second voice said. ‘Remember what happened when you tried t’ do your own taxes?’

‘I can count to fucking ten. Boss’ll have our balls if we lose one.’

Twilight reached to her belt, pressing a catch which dropped a pair of smoke pellets into her palm. It was time to move. Her arm swung around in an arc, tossing the two small spheres upward where they hit the ceiling. There were two loud cracks and the room filled with smoke. Of course, that left Twilight blind as well, but she did not need to stay there. She vanished, reappearing beside the van and moving into immediate action.

Bank notes exploded around her as she kicked through a box into the man carrying it. Her arm arced around to bring her baton into violent contact with a second thug’s jaw. Her second baton appeared and she stepped between the men, whipping the twin sticks into her victims’ skulls, and they went down just as the two in the shop staggered out, coughing and spluttering, and waving pistols.

Now she dived backward, into the shadows in the back of the van. She heard the two men as she came at them from inside the shop.

‘There was someone there!’ That was the observant one.

‘I didn’t’ see anyone.’

‘There was! I think it was…’

He cut off with a yelp as she snapped her batons into their forearms. Automatics clattered across the sidewalk. She ducked under a wild swing and slammed her elbow into her attacker’s guts, winding him. There was pain in her back as Mister Observant landed a punch; she ignored it, swinging around to lash a baton into his face. Turning again, she drove her knee up into a face which was begging for it, and then turned to face the last man standing, even if it was more like reeling.

‘You… you’re that Twilight. Mister Tonaldo’ll pay a lot for your head.’

‘You won’t be collecting.’ Snap kick to the knee. She felt his kneecap give and heard the scream of pain, and cut it off by smashing the butt of a baton into the side of his head.

Then she listened. No sirens, no sounds at all. There were still people living around here, but none of them was going to call the cops when a fight started in the street. There were fake bank notes scattered all over the road. If anyone noticed they would come running, she was pretty sure of that.

Checking the pockets of her last victim, she found his phone and dialled 911. Technically, this was a borderline emergency, but if the police did not get there fast enough they would need riot teams.

The Everglades, FL.

‘Did you happen to see the news today?’ Dom asked as they watched Jon snapping pictures of Shona. The blonde was sitting on a wooden chair on the jetty beside Ever’s hut, dressed in a tiny bikini bra and a pair of ragged, blue-jean shorts, pretending to fish in the swamp. Ever was standing nearby, watching the proceedings with a grin on her face, and ensuring that none of the wildlife disturbed them.

‘No,’ Penny replied.

‘Your friend Twilight made the front page of the
Millennial Times
without you. Captured a cool million in counterfeit twenties in northern Churchton.’

Penny grinned. ‘Good for her.’

‘Someone actually got a picture and a couple of words out of her.’

‘Oh, she won’t like that.’

‘The words were printable. Perhaps some of your media savvy is wearing off on her.’

‘Huh. What is it you’re planning to do with me today?’

Dom seemed to consider for a moment. ‘Once we have some shots of Ever on her own, I want to do some group shots. You and Ever, you and June, all three of you. There is a pool of fairly clear water on the island behind the hut. Ever says it is waist deep and quite safe. We will get some nude shots in that, see which comes out best.’

‘Nude?’ Penny almost squeaked.

‘This will not be a problem, I hope? No one will see anything
too
intimate.’

Naked in a pool of water with June, or Ever for that matter? Yes of course it would be a problem. ‘No,’ she said, ‘I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’m just not…’

‘You fly around New Millennium City in a semi-translucent costume which covers barely anything,’ Dom said, smiling. ‘Do not tell me you are modest. You have exceptional body, yes? You have
nothing
to be ashamed of.’

Penny had spent years being ashamed… No, that was wrong. Penny had never been ashamed of her body; she had just spent a long time thinking of it in negative terms. Now she was Cygnus, and she was fucking stunning! Damn right she had nothing to be ashamed of. Cygnus was not ashamed of anything! It was time to be Cygnus.

~~~

‘You seem… different,’ June commented. They were both up to their waists in water, hair slicked back, and naked. June was speaking sotto voce since Jon was busy snapping photographs.

‘I do?’ Cygnus replied.

‘Uh-huh. For starters, we’re breast-to-breast, buck naked, and you seem to be enjoying yourself.’

‘I’m being Cygnus. Cygnus thinks you’re hot and doesn’t have any problems with showing off.’

‘You’re talking like she’s a different person.’

‘Turn a little toward me, girls,’ Jon suggested. ‘Cygnus, if you keep your right arm roughly where it is… Yes, that’s perfect. No nipples.’

‘Well… isn’t she?’ Cygnus continued. ‘Penny is a doormat. She’s got no self-confidence. She’s…’

‘Got more humility?’

‘She’s got a lot to be humble about.’ Cygnus’ fingers stroked over June’s ass beneath the water. ‘And she’d never touch you like this.’