5th May
01:22 GMT +11
"An unfortunate -though not wholly unanticipated- event."
The Director was here within two hours of the Major reporting the attack. We're standing in the base's briefing room and the Major has been
glowing bright yellow since he got off the telephone. It's a bit of a joke about excessive security precautions; so secret that even his name is classified. Major Adam's name was sort of a secret while he was being 'Cameron Scott' but it was never actually
classified. The whole masquerade was technically for his benefit.
The Director's name actually
is a secret. On no document that I've been able to see is his real name recorded, which is
weird given that he's technically just a political appointee. I can see his patterns of emotion easily enough: green-orange with no indigo. That might mean that he's a psychopath, but lower intensity examples of psychopathy often lend themselves to office environments. Did he used to be a Soviet superhero? I'm pretty sure that was Steel Wolf with him as a bodyguard, and for that nutter to be willing to do bodyguard work he must consider the Director to be absolutely essential to the good of Russia.
The Director makes eye contact with the Major. "You have arranged to have the bodies of the deceased members of Blue Trinity cremated."
"
Yes, Director."
"With Blue Trinity no longer present, this facility has served its purpose. We will discuss this further when this matter is resolved. Dismissed."
The Major about faces and marches from the room. Even once he is outside with a wall between him and the Director he doesn't relax
at all.
"Sergeant. Members of the Justice Youth. Given the speed with which the attack took place, you are to be commended on the speed of your reactions." He focuses on Wallace. "Kid Flash, you will be given all computer records we possess on the treatment regime given to Blue Trinity."
"But that Black.. Flash.. guy got away!"
"I am fully cognisant of that fact. But a brief review of the case suggests that the attackers took opportunistic advantage of a gap in our defences. No one but you knew exactly when you were coming here for long enough to arrange anything sophisticated. I see no reason to deny you our aid simply because your presence coincided with this incident."
"I didn't mean
that! Why aren't you going after them?"
The Director's expression doesn't change. "Kid Flash, under my direct command I have Sergeant Pushkin, ten Rocket Reds with advanced suits, two platoons of Red Rockets with standard suits, a company of soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and various other specialists. With a phone call I can call upon any of the resources of the Russian government. I have the authority -should I deem it essential to the national good- to deploy a tactical nuclear device on my own recognisance. But where should I deploy it? If this 'Black Flash' is as fast as you then he could be anywhere within three thousand kilometres and moving faster than anything we could send after him. If he is as fast as the Flash then he could be anywhere on the Earth." Wallace wilts slightly. "No. Now is not the time for rash action. Now is the time for a careful discovery and examination of facts."
Canis grimaces. He is
not happy about missing the fight, though I'm not sure what exactly he thinks he could have done. "What if your people have betrayed you?"
"Operative
Truth of
the Alliance will be interrogating everyone who could have known, but I think it unlikely that she will find what we are looking for. Postings here are not easily predictable and all communication is closely monitored."
Richard nods. "Who knows about this base?"
"That this base exists is not a secret. Precisely what was housed here
was a secret known to very few, though as you yourself discovered it is a logical place to look for someone interested in Russia's attempts to create super speed."
"Did you have any kind of tracking devices on Blue Trinity?"
"Yes. They were removed from them during the attack."
Richard looks at me. "Oh El?"
I shake my head.
"Tried and failed, I'm afraid. Mister Director, do you have any idea how long it would take to reverse engineer a workable version of the Garrick Formula from Miss Molotova's body tissues?
"
"When the Russian project began working on replicating Mister Garrick's work, we had more intelligence to go on and it still took us more than a decade. Now, with modern medical equipment and spectrographs, it may well take a lot less time. What is of greater concern to me is that they already have some method of bestowing super speed."
Wallace shrugs. "It was just Velocity Nine, right? That stuff still shows up in the US a couple of times a year. I guess if someone actually
trained with it-."
"The initial blood test results do not appear to contain any Velocity Nine. Or show any of the signs of prior Velocity Nine use. That result will need to be checked of course, but the equipment here is advanced and the researchers are highly experienced with super speed related medicine. It is unlikely that they would make such a mistake."
Richard looks puzzled. "So if they've already got a way to give people super speed, why do they need the Garrick Formula?"
"Yes. That is an excellent question. If it is not Velocity Nine and not the Garrick Formula, what could it be? If we do not know what it is then it is far harder to narrow the range of possible culprits."
"So we've got no idea at all?!"
"I would not say that." The Director walks over to the room's podium and an image appears on the projection screen behind him. An elderly man's face, grizzled rather than frail. "This is Feodor Kerimov. He once held the rank of General in the Soviet Army. He resigned his commission during the early nineties. While he was on active duty he was a proponent of the aggressive use of enhanced soldiers, and I have uncovered people feeding him information on Russia's older programs on several occasions."
Richard frowns. "Then why haven't you arrested him?"
"As the Soviet Union's influence went into decline, he acquired certain business interests in Azerbaijan and now has a joint nationality. He has not returned to the Russian Federation for several years and has many well placed friends in the government of his new homeland. While I
could arrest him, doing so would require me to send Russian operatives into an independent country."
Richard nods. "Which would be an act of war."
"Russia against Azerbaijan? No, it would not be much of a war. But the political fallout both internally and internationally as a result of Russia behaving in such a way towards a former Soviet Republic would be quite serious. I am not prepared to order that yet. Instead, I am minded to increase our intelligence gathering operations against him. If I have hard evidence to present, it may be that he would find that his new friends become a good deal less friendly."
Wallace makes a curling gesture with his right forearm. "We could go in. We're not Russian."
"If he ends up in Russian custody, I do not think that our critics will be mollified by the fact that he was put there by Americans."
"We can take a look around for you. If we find Miss Molotova or… Information he stole from Russian intelligence, you could get him arrested, right?"
The Director nods. "Yes, pressure could be brought to bear to make that happen. The Russian government would be grateful for any assistance you feel that you can provide on this matter."
"Alright, stop.
" Wallace twists his head in my direction.
"Mister Director, are you sure that General Kerimov is responsible?
"
"No, but I have no other active investigations into anyone with his proven interest and capacity. There are Russian officers and politicians who have expressed an interest in expanding our metahuman program, but none of them have been actively spying on our programs. There are paramilitary organisations who would like to gain information for terrorist purposes or for sale, but they lack the resources to perform such an attack."
"Right. Thank you for the information, Mister Director. We will relay your request for assistance to Batman.
"
"Oh El!" Wallace looks pained. "That could take all day! We need-!"
"We gather information covertly, Kid Flash. We wouldn't be charging in in any case. Taking a few additional hours to get there wouldn't change much. More importantly, deciding whether to deploy the team remains Batman's responsibility.
"
He takes a moment to get his instinctive truculence
under control. "Fine."
"Since it's clearly so important to you, I will
suggest that he send us. Mister Director, could you please give us everything you have on General Kerimov?
"
"Of course. I would be pleased to."
