Kara, in her alter ego of Linda Lee walked down the marbled corridors of city hall with a soft, repetitive tap of her old sneakers announcing her progress towards the Mayor’s office. She was slightly surprised to be summoned in the manner she had been, by an announcement at the end of the evening news, saying that the Mayor was already in consultation with Supergirl on a matter of national importance with a follow up meeting to be held in his office the following day at 11. It was deliberately low key and down played, and the fact that no press were camped outside to try and find out what the matter was seemed to indicate that they had been briefed to keep quiet. No doubt all parties promised a scoop later. So something quite genuinely big then, she surmised. And serious.
But above all, strange. It was because she was deep in thought that she walked straight passed the security guards stationed outside the Mayor’s office as she headed straight for the door that lead to the civic head of the city.
“Whoa-whoa-whoa! Where the hell do you think you’re going, honey?” cried the overweight security guard behind the desk. His equally large colleague hurried over from a filing cabinet to stand between her and the door , melodramatically spreading his hands wide. Though he had only trotted a few feet, he was panting and breathing heavily. “NO-ONE ……HUH….huh…huh…no…one…gets to see….the….the Mayor…with…without ….without going through…..through US!” he gasped, pointing to himself with a jerk of his thumb.
Somehow, Kara thought that this probably wouldn’t be too difficult even without superpowers. She smiled secretly to herself.
“I believe I am expected?” she said still not really concentrating on the situation but thinking of what this might all be about. It was as the last word was uttered she realized her mistake.
“Uh-huh. He ain’t seein’ nobody this morning except Supergirl,” said the guard behind the desk, “and trust me lady, you ain’t her.” He cast a disparaging eye up and down her baggy, casual clothes, general dowdiness, plain brown hair and glasses.
Kara suddenly realized she was literally inappropriately dressed to meet the Mayor. He was awaiting Supergirl and in her day dreaming state she had arrived as Linda. Stupid and careless of her. She covered for her mistake. “Oh….oh wait! It’s the 19th today right? My bad , I’m supposed to interview him for my college paper , but I think I got the days mixed up, its next week. Really sorry.“ Then mischievously, she continued “So….Supergirl is coming here? To see you guys?“
“She sure is” the standing guard, now recovered, pulled up his belt importantly. He hadn’t seen his feet in many years. “Well…us and the Mayor” he coughed after the stretched truth, then he coughed again as he told downright lies “Yeah,…er…yeah we see her a lot… she comes down here to see us all the time…Harry and me, ya know….cos we …er…we.. we help her out like with stuff, ya know… discuss crimefighting stuff…like all the time…” He looked at Harry for back up, which was duly coming.
“Oh yeah, all the time… Dave an’ me are always helping her out…” said Harry, slightly unconvincingly.
“Really? Wow! She must really think a lot of you guys…do..do ya think I could hang around, maybe listen in on you briefing her, maybe interview you and her for the college paper….?” Kara asked with a twinkle in her eye.
“What?!! Oh, no, no miss that’s quite out of the question! We’re far too busy…”
“Yeah and the briefings are secret” Harry added desperately.
‘So secret even I don’t know about them’ Kara thought to herself, smiling.
“So, er…she’ll be here any second”, Dave stammered, “w-we’re gonna have to ask you to leave immediately”.
“Yeah, you’d best skedaddle” Harry confirmed.
“Sure. Sorry guys. My bad, I’ll come back when I got the right day…leave you to …er…your secret briefings…”
“Yeah, you do that honey, but don’t you print any of that! Warning you now!” Harry wagged a finger at her as she backed away.
“Sure” she mimed zipping her lips fast. “Not a soul” she smiled to herself as she turned away from them, disappearing around the corner, out of view. She waited a few moments, checking a cleaning cupboard was unlocked then looking up and down the corridor.
“Oh, hi Supergirl!” she said loudly after a few paces before spinning on her heel and calling
“Good morning citizen”. In that instant Linda had disappeared in a red and blue blur. The loose fitting jeans were gone, hidden in a cleaning closet, replaced by a crimson skirt, thigh length, with a bright yellow belt. Her well worn sneakers had now vanished, in their stead were knee high red leather boots, with a thin yellow/gold trim at the top which rose to a slight point at the front. A creaseless, smooth, long sleeved blue top covered her upper body instead of the oversized brown baggy sweater she was wearing. From the neck of her top, a rich red cloak hung down to the back of her knees. Emblazoned within a shield on the centre of her impressive chest was a large red ‘S’ on a yellow background. Her glasses had gone as had her mousey brown hair, replaced by a shower of shimmering white gold, falling to rest on her strong, young shoulders. Her face was radiant with innate beauty, her eyes a clear blue, twinkling as they caught the light. Her looks could stop a train just as easily as her strength. She was transformed into Supergirl once more.
She strolled back around the corner purposefully “Hi, guys, is the Mayor in? I’m here to see him” she said with a dazzling smile.
Harry and Dave were just standing there , awestruck, simply staring at her.
“Guys?”
Harry moved from around the desk, mouth open, bumping into Dave as he did so. The two bickered and pushed each other, jostling for position to address her. Harry won.
“Er…er…yeah, yeah he’s in...but …er..you …er…you can’t just breeze in there you know…” he said as Dave again spread his arms to bar the doorway.
“We gotta check you in Supergirl, we’re security you know. We’re all that stands between the head of the city and that crazy broad Anna Keys.” Harry continued.
“Oh, for the love of-“ Dave rolled his eyes “That ain’t no person, ya big dummy! It’s like, ya know, no rules and stuff. The rule of the mob. Anarchy. And no, NOT the Mafia.”
“Like the wrestling, with the cage matches?” Harry struggled to grasp the concept.
“Er, guys?” Supergirl tried again for their attention.
“Yeah, sorry Supergirl, we just gotta do our thing here. Now, name?”
“Er...you said it…I’m Supergirl.”
“You got any id?” Harry asked.
“Well…there’s this…” she stuck out her chest slightly and pointed to the large 'S' that resided there.
“Oh God yes!” said Harry, glassy eyed, as Dave slammed the back of his hand into his shoulder in a friendly slap to break the spell.
“Let’s just check the list” Dave said importantly, as he looked down an appointment book that had only one entry on it , her name alongside 11 o’clock, ringed twice and with a little love heart someone had drawn next to it that said ‘Dave and SG 4 eva’.
“It’s right there” said Supergirl leaning forward.
“Don’t tell us our job, ma’am. Let’s just see…now…Supergirl, Supergirl, Supergirl-ah there you are!” Dave said as if the name had been hiding all along. “I…er..I guess its ok for you to go in, but….er… really I’m supposed to frisk you…”he said optimistically.
She cast him a withering look and he quickly relented. “Oh, but ..er…I’m sure you are ok.”
As Supergirl moved towards the door, Harry trotted around to block her path once more.
“Ummmm...Er…I was kinda wondering, you know…I’m into law enforcement myself” her showed her the patch that said ‘SECURITY’ in the shield on the grey sleeve of his uniform shirt, “and , er, I keep an eye on my neighbourhood, ya know, do stakeouts an’ stuff. Keep an eye out for trouble…that kinda thing”.
“Really?” said Supergirl , slightly bemused by where this was heading and wondering to herself if he possibly meant ‘take-outs’.
“Yeah…I…er…go on patrol, anti-crime patrol that is, most nights”.
“Yeah , he goes an’ stakes out a stool in his local bar” scoffed Dave.
Harry shot a blistering look at his co-worker before continuing. “So I was thinking….maybe we could get together sometime and ….ya…know….discuss crimefighting techniques…”
“Oh,”said Supergirl, feigning interest. “Have you ever actually arrested someone?”
“Er…n-not as such no…”Harry stammered.
“He had a cardiac arrest once!” Dave piped up, which made Supergirl hide a quick smile.
“Well, I use the power of flight, my X-ray and heat vision, my freezing breath, and I have the ability to lift a truck if I have to, to fight crime. What do you use?” she asked.
“I…er…I…”
“He uses the threat of sitting on someone!” Dave chipped in helpfully as Harry went bright red.
Supergirl smiled, placatingly. “Look guys, the Mayor, remember? I really ought to go in” she said as she moved passed a crestfallen Harry. She turned back in the doorway and smiled gently at him, before switching to a rather sultry smile that she used to encompass them both. “Maybe some other time, guys.” Then, out of pure devilment she gave them a very sexy wink. She had no idea why exactly, it just amused her a little to tease them, and she knew it would make their day. If not their lifetime. She knocked politely and entered, smiling to herself, before forcibly suppressing it. The fun and games were over. It was time to find out what all the fuss was about.
Behind her, Harry slapped Dave with the back of his hand. “Ya see that? She winked at me!”
Mayor Reynolds was seated at his desk, a large window behind him. An attractive older woman, perhaps in her early sixties, was fussing over him, holding a file. She had elegant cheek bones and still possessed a classic beauty that said she must have been a real looker in her younger days.
Reynolds by contrast had a round face that was instantly likable. His eyes gave him the look of a man who was constantly amused at the world. Next to them both was an obviously harassed young functionary. They both looked up as she entered and the Mayor rose to greet her, offering his hand as he came around the desk.
“Ah, good, you got the message. I’m so glad. Forgive me, but we didn’t really know how to get a hold of you.” He clasped her hand in both of his and looked at her intently. “Wow. Just…wow. Oh, forgive me, I’m Mike Reynolds, the Mayor, so very pleased to meet you.”
“Likewise, Mr Mayor” Supergirl said primly. “The honour is all mine.”
“If I were 20 years younger…” Reynolds said wistfully.
“You’d still be 20 years too old for the poor girl” said the woman behind him.
He turned with a gestured arm to indicate her “Oh and that’s my secretary, Eddy, sorry Edwina.”
He held the back of his hand in front of the corner of his mouth and in a loud stage whisper said ”Don’t tell the wife but I been banging her senseless for years!”
“MIKE!” Edwina screeched, before laughing and slapping him across the back with the file that she held.
“Oh…er…well…ok” said Supergirl, shocked by his candor.
“Don’t pay him any attention , sweetie, I AM his wife! You stop teasing the poor girl” she scolded her husband. “This is a serious business” she said, her smile vanishing.
“Sorry. Sorry Eddy” he said sheepishly. “And my aide, Tom Lewis” the young man nodded. As did the Kryptonian, back to him.
Supergirl turned on her heel to face the silent stranger in an anonymous grey suit, leaning with his butt on the side windowsill, arms folded, looking at her. “And you are….?”
The man didn’t answer, just shifted his weight uncomfortably and coughed, obviously not enjoying the scrutiny.
“Oh that’s Mr Wilson…he represents certain….national interests in this matter” the Mayor answered.
“Supergirl.” Wilson said curtly, again shifting his weight.
So he’s government, she thought. And quite a shady part of Government at that.
Wilson finally spoke. “I’m just here to observe the briefing and answer any questions you may have afterwards.”
The Mayor perched on the corner of his desk. “Please, take a seat.”
Supergirl sat herself down primly before him, straight –backed, crossing her elegant legs at the knee and holding her laced fingers over the knee cap. She looked up at him with a growing sense of unease.
Tom Lewis activated a remote and a large screen sprang to life at the end of the conference table, slightly blurred. Supergirl turned slightly to get a better view as he adjusted the focus on the remote.
“Do the numbers 13.0.0.0.0 mean anything to you?” Lewis asked.
Supergirl thought for a moment “Um….uh-huh. The end of the third cycle of the earth in the Mayan calendar? Nothing else seems to fit….the end of the third Great Cycle of 5,125.36 days since the start of creation. 1.872 million days. The end of the 13th Baktun, each of which was a 144,000 day span. The equivalent in our calendar is …the…21st December 2012. Around 11:11am UTC, to be precise.”
“Doomsday.” Said Wilson, melodramatically.
“Actually its not. It just means a new calendar and the 4th cycle of the earth starts after it. It’s no more Doomsday than January the 1st is after December 31st. The very fact that it’s the end of the THIRD cycle tells you already that there have been two previous calendar ‘endings’ .It should just be another day at the office.” Supergirl explained.
“Unless you’re a kook who is trying to make it the end of the world on that date…” Wilson responded.
With that a picture appeared on screen of an attractive blonde woman in her early thirties. It was obviously from an id. badge.
“Know her?” Supergirl shook her head.
“Well, she knows you. And hates you to boot. She’s sworn to kill you and unfortunately, she has the means to do it. “ Lewis added. “As well as the rest of us”.
“What do you mean?” Supergirl asked with concern.
“That is Doctor Helen Willoughby. She was a leading light in the research into the properties of naturally occurring elements, for…a variety of purposes. She had unlimited access for her government work to the entire mineral specimen collections of this country. Rocks…minerals…radioactive isotopes.” He paused. “Rare and unusual meteorites….” He left the sentence hanging.
“The last few months she seems to have gone rogue. Started work on something of her own. She called it ‘Project Maya’ “.