Lewis continued “Willoughby’s parents were both academics, mother was Susan Julie, nee De Villiers, a noted geologist and then later in life she went into palaeontology. Been dead 4 years, natural causes. Her father was Roger Willoughby, archaeologist specialising in the central and south American civilisations. He’s been dead around 3 years, auto accident. No one else involved. Suspicion he just got wasted and drove off the road. She seems to have been well indoctrinated by both parents into their respective academic fields; unfortunately, she seems to have taken that on to an interest in her late husbands work…”
“Which was?” asked Supergirl quizzically.
“Military research” Wilson cut in ahead of Lewis. “That’s all you need to be aware of at this time” Supergirl glanced in his direction, switching briefly to her X-ray vision to scope him out. Suddenly, there were raised voices and a crash from the ante room as the loud voices carried into the Mayor’s office. The sudden noise caused all to jump slightly except the Kryptonian. Wilson, she noted had his hand tucked inside his left lapel in an instant as he turned to the door. There were muffled sounds of a struggle and a loud voice cried ”NOT THE FACE” whilst another answered “SHE WINKED AT ME!” followed by a smash of porcelain and the sound of furniture moving under weight.
“What the hell?” said Reynolds as Wilson started to move to cover the doorway. Eddy , Supergirl noticed, had subtly moved to stand between her husband and any threat coming through the doorway. She liked her, Supergirl decided. She had guts. Supergirl held up an arm to stop Wilson and smiled apologetically.
She cast a quick look through the wall and sighed resignedly, closing her eyes and holding up her index finger.
“What’s going on?” Reynolds asked. Supergirl cast a second glance at the doorway, looking through it at the events unfolding on the other side. She sighed heavily.
“I’m sorry this is all my fault.” said Supergirl. “Excuse me, just… one… second.” She waited for acknowledgement from the Mayor who turned his head towards her. Taking that as tacit approval, she disappeared in a red and blue blur that streaked to the door, flinging it open in an instant and vanishing into the ante room. It rocked back on its hinges as Wilson drew a Glock.
“WILL YOU TWO JOKERS JUST CALM DOWN” Supergirl commanded with authority before the red and blue blur returned to her seat an instant later, resuming her pose of legs crossed and hands on her knee, the door already closed behind her. She then realised slightly belatedly, that she was holding a large bowling trophy.
“Oh…er…sorry.” She placed it on the Mayor’s desk, pulling a face.
“What on earth?” asked the Mayor’s wife.
“Sorry, the one called Dave was about to hit the other one with …this” She gestured at the trophy.
“It’s my fault, I was teasing them a little before I came in here, I’m afraid it got a little out of hand.”
“Those two idiots!” said Reynolds angrily. “ You sure I can’t fire them?” He asked his wife.
“The nephews of your biggest financial contributors? Sure, go ahead.”
He sighed wearily, looking up at the Girl of Steel with a guilty expression. “I don’t like favours or nepotism…but unfortunately it’s the only way a poor man can get into office…”
He sounded resentful and slightly ashamed. Supergirl decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, but honest politicians were rarer than Kryptonite.
“I’m sorry, I’ll deal with them later. My apologies, Supergirl; Mr Wilson. Let’s get on.” He said gruffly.
As the briefing resumed, Supergirl took a good look at Wilson. He had sharp, hard eyes that missed nothing and a lean, harsh face. He didn’t look as if he had smiled much in his life. He was aware he was being scrutinised, but seemed indifferent. A very cold fish, she decided.
Lewis continued. “Willoughby seems to have been naturally gifted…something of a prodigy … and fortunately her interests were benign…at first. Followed her parents’ interests in history and archaeology, purely as a hobby. Then she suffered a personal tragedy that seems to have set her on a new path. Seems she started to become obsessed with that Mayan end of the world stuff, and at some point it looks like she decided to make it happen, and to go gunning for you too. Which unfortunately is why you are here today.”
“But why? I’ve never heard of her, nor met her. Why does she want to do me harm?” Supergirl asked. “If she’s a respected member of the scientific community why threaten myself or to commit mass murder?”
“It would seem your paths have crossed once , briefly and somewhat indirectly. Do you remember a few years back you stopped that test missile that was out of control? The guidance system shorted out and it went haywire, was heading for a built up suburb of the city?” Lewis hit a button and a headline told of her saving the day.
“Yes but it was a simple case of me using my speed to catch it and then my strength to hurl it into the upper atmosphere where it exploded harmlessly. No one was hurt, so why….?” Supergirl asked with a frown.
“Her husband Richard Vinncennes had designed the guidance system. She didn’t take his name when she married him. It was a tricky business. Had taken him 4 years. When he heard what nearly happened he …well lost it. Took his own life a few weeks later. Just couldn’t forgive himself.”
“That’s tragic…but how could she blame me? I couldn’t know he would be in that frame of mind. How could she expect me to help him, to save him?” Supergirl said still confused.
“That’s not it. The enquiry found there was nothing wrong with Vinncennes’ work, faulty wiring by a defence sub contractor cutting costs had lead to the malfunction, not his guidance system. Caused it to short out, sent it off course. Doctor Willoughby has managed to convince herself that if you had disarmed the missile instead of destroying it then her husband would have been exonerated and still be alive today.”
‘So that was it.’ Thought Supergirl. But not all of it. “Ok…so what exactly has she done? This…project Maya?”
Lewis continued “Well she went on two weeks leave a month ago…and never came back. They were concerned at first that she’d been picked up or abducted by foreign powers, but it just looks like she decided to disappear. Bank accounts raided and closed, assets liquidised. When they looked through her work files it was all there documented. She was very clever. She knew large samples would be missed from the mineral collections so she took minute slivers at a time. Individually nothing, collectively…a very real and very dangerous threat. We are not sure exactly what she has. She had access to radioactive isotopes…So, we think, whilst she didn’t have weapons grade material, she is or has, made some kind of radioactive dirty bomb. They thought at first nothing was missing…then when they weighed the samples … little bits of almost everything had been taken. She smuggled the radioactive stuff out of the facility hidden in a Geiger counter. Pretty smart really. She has gotten her hands on Kryptonite, from the Great Bear Lake Meteorite impact of ’78. But those samples weren’t weighed back then, so we aren’t sure how much was initially found and how much she actually took. She had noted her actions down in a coded file on her work lap top, headed ‘Project Maya’ - her passwords were numerical representations of her Birthday, Wedding day etc all in the Mayan calendar. She openly talks of that Mayan date as the day she settles all scores. The detail is all in there” He slid a folder across the table to her. She picked it up and thumbed through it for a second before sliding it back to him.
“I see” she said tersely.
“Aren’t you even going to read it?” Said Wilson, with an annoyed edge to his voice.
“I have.” Supergirl answered simply, staring back coolly with a forced smile.
“Oh…right.” Wilson seemed somewhat wrong footed and cleared his throat awkwardly.
“There is a video threat mentioned in the file? Could I see it?” she raised an exquisite blonde eyebrow in query.
“Of course” Lewis pressed the button again and the screen came to life. Willoughby was sitting facing a web cam in an almost feature less room. A small window covered by plain drapes behind her revealed nothing whilst the only furniture visible was a small four legged metal table against the wall in the background. There were no lights on but the room was quite bright. “This was sent to the Mayor’s office yesterday”. Willoughby’s voice came to life.
“Ok, Mr Mayor, you don’t know me and I don’t know you. But get on to Langley and find out. I’m sure the CIA have been looking for me along with my real employers. But they won’t find me. I’ve gone underground , so to speak. I put up with their shit for long enough. It’s my time now. Literally. You may not even know it, but the clock is already ticking, Mr Mayor, and time is not your friend. I want Supergirl delivered to me in Kryptonite chains or else…else what? Wouldn’t you like to know. You’ve been in post 4 months Mayor Reynolds…be kinda careless if a large chunk of the city got obliterated on your watch, don’t you think? When you pass this on to Langley they’ll get hold of my former employers. No doubt you’ll have a visit from one or more of those pricks in a bad suit, wearing shades in-doors because they want to be in Men –in – Black. They’ll fill you in. But the bottom line…I’m gonna kill a shit load of folks and turn your city into a radioactive wasteland unless you give in to my perfectly reasonable request. That golden haired show off in exchange for your lovely metropolis. I want her alone, obviously. No police, no secret service, just you hand delivering her to me in person. I’ll let you know where nearer the time. But I can tell you the when. At eleven minutes passed eleven on December 21st . Oh, I know all the government departments will be in on this, trying to look for me. They can search as much as they want, they won’t find me, no matter how much ground they cover. So, let them go through the motions, knock themselves out. Just as long as there are just the three of us on December 21st. Anyone else around, anyone else except you and well, you don’t want to know. Just you ,me and the bitch. I’ll be in touch.” Lewis hit the pause button, freezing her face on screen.
“We’ve got our analysts going through it now. Ambient light levels would indicate its an afternoon recording, the speculation is its in the city. There’s no background noise but they are going through it with sub- frequency analysers, seeing if there is anything not in our audible range that might have been picked up. We’ll let you know what we find.” Wilson addressed her.
“There’s no question of us giving you up.” Reynolds said and shot a pointed look at both Lewis and Wilson, who shifted uneasily. It implied the option had been discussed. “I am happy to approach her alone if it comes to it.”Eddy put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed affectionately. He patted it reassuringly. “But your surrender is not an option for us, nor for you.” He looked her squarely in the eye, and she believed him.
She rose slowly and nodded at his reassurance. “I’d best start the search straight away as we only have a few days.”
“But where will you start?” the Mayor’s wife asked.
“Well, I scanned the light intensity levels coming through the drapes behind her. There’s a small, slightly brighter circle in their centre. And the drapes themselves are very small. The walls and floor are metal, and the table leans tight against the wall, but if you look here-“ she rewound the video with the controller then paused it before handing it back to Lewis. She walked up to the screen and pointed around a barely discernible, slightly wider part of the inside right table leg. “That is part of a small bracket attaching the table to the wall. It’s fixed in place not supported by its own weight like conventional tables. That would imply to me a lack of stability. Taken with a circular window and her references to covering as much ‘ground as we want we still won’t find her’, I think it’s safe to assume she’s on board a ship. Maybe anchored, maybe not.”
“It’s a porthole!” Wilson cried impressed. “But how do you know which city, which harbour she is in?”
Supergirl looked at him, then the Mayor and his wife. “She says she wants the Mayor and I, and we’re both here. The threat is against this city. You yourself said the sound analysis was assuming it to be here. Seems a logical place to start, don’t you think?”
Wilson looked slightly embarrassed. “Er…yes, of course. I’ll let our tech guys know what you’ve found, they might pick up on something you’ve missed”.
“Yeah,right” said Reynolds sarcastically. “Son, every time you open your mouth you go down in my estimation.”
Supergirl smiled to herself. She decided she liked the Mayor too.