Grace sat listening to the whisper of air through the ventilation ducts, the only sound this deep in the headquarters complex. In front of her chair lay the woman she'd seen on waking, her chest rising and falling gently. Angela had said she ought to be back before Drew woke, but just in case she'd asked Grace to watch over her.

Of course, she'd asked her to do so from the security station. Five minutes after the doctor left the building, Grace left the little room with its wall full of televisions and walked back to the infirmary. After so long under surveillance, she didn't feel right watching someone else sleep via a camera. Watching her in person had dangers as well, but those were less personal.

She smiled at the thought that being unnaturally attracted to a woman would be less personal than voyeurism. She'd had an almost obligatory relationship with a girl when she first arrived in the States, and she knew her preferences didn't lie in that direction. The girl in question had told her so, in fact. Keeping that thought firmly in mind, she opened her eyes and looked at Drew once more.

Angelic. Angelic, but not ethereal. The blanket draped over her rose and fell with an intoxicating rhythm. Almost as if she could sense Grace looking, the woman rolled over, stretching as she did. Grace held herself motionless, refusing to give in to the fire rushing through her blood. Vapor wafted up from her lap, misting the air between them. Grace glanced down at her simple shift, afraid she'd see it smoldering, but she hadn't destroyed her own clothing. Instead, little beads of ice had formed on her knees, and from the feel of it along her thighs as well.

Silently, she closed her eyes and returned to her contemplation of the ventilation ducts.

***

"Damn, this thing moves, doesn't it?"

"Yes, Axeman. It would be counterproductive to build a vehicle that didn't."

Before Steve could frame his reply, Jack interrupted their banter. "Pardon me, Widget, but... where are we going? You were in such a hurry we didn't get a proper briefing."

Angela flicked her finger across the smart phone mated to the dashboard, and the words 'autopilot engaged' flickered onto the screen. That done, she turned back to face Jack. "I knew we'd have some time in the air, and the situation is a real emergency."

Jack smiled. "Bleeding, burning, falling, sinking, on or under fire?"

Angela didn't share his humor. "Bleeding, and possibly falling, sinking, and under fire, for a very primitive value of under fire."

The first word told Jack the severity of the situation, the rest just amplified it. "Okay. What are we getting into?"

"A small group of militant animal rights activists attacked the Philadelphia Zoo. They claimed the Zoo had been mistreating the animals since the Rain and were intent on releasing them 'into the wild'. Of course, they didn't bring cages to transport the animals; they were just letting them loose."

Jack frowned. "That's... horrible. Most of those critters have no idea how to survive in this climate. They'll starve, or freeze, or... I dunno. Just die. I take it we're going in to arrest the terrorists?"

"No. That won't be necessary. They made a rather fatal mistake."

"What's that?"

"Apparently one of the security guards tried to stop the activists, and they shot at him. Fortunately, he wasn't hurt. Unfortunately, one of the polar bears was shot."

"So, there's a dead polar bear. Does that mean we get to kill us some Vegans?" Angela just glared at Steve, and Jack intervened again.

"I don't think so, and I don't like the sound of where this is going."

"You're likely correct. The injured polar bear began growing. He left his containment area when he no longer fit in the pool."

Jack hadn't been to the Philly Zoo, but he'd seen enough bear enclosures to guess at what it looked like. "How did it get out? Bust up the concrete?"

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Only by accident. It stepped out."

He did some quick mental math. All those artillery classes were finally coming in handy. "The thing would have to have something like a twenty-foot stride to do that."

"It ate the protestors, one bite each, and the only reason it didn't eat the security guard is because he got into one of the exhibit houses and it couldn't fit. He says it ate a few of the other animals, then headed for the Schuylkill River. He called the city for help while it was eating protestors, they called us as he lost track of it."

Steve snorted, but Jack had heard enough terrified young men to hear the fear beneath his bravado. "So, it's headed for the ocean. Why are we risking our lives to keep it from swimming back to Antarctica?"

"First, polar bears are from the Arctic, not the Antarctic. That is in fact what ‘Arctic’ and ‘Antarctic’ mean. This means it will move North, not South, which will take it directly past New York City, as well as several other major population centers as it travels."

"So? Place is a shithole now anyhow. Let the bear have it."

Angela plowed on as if Steve hadn't spoken. "Second, the guard reports it's moving slowly, but it's path takes it right past the brightly lit boat houses along the river, many of which are being rented out tonight for some kind of big fraternity party."

"What? Sorority girls in mortal danger? Shit, pop the afterburner on this thing! This is an emergency!"

***

Steve sniffed. The air in the Skycar reeked of fear-sweat, but for the life of him he couldn't tell who stank of it. Jack smelled weary, a little tense. Jesse's scent spiked all over the place; since she'd decided to be a superhero, her moods had gone completely unpredictable. Faint fear overlay the excitement drifting across from where Angela sat in the driver's seat, but not nearly enough to account for the screaming terror saturating the air in the car.

"How much longer 'till we get there?"

"Sixty seconds less than the last time you asked, Steve. We're about three minutes out." Angela's irritation lashed at his nose, forestalling the snappy comeback he'd planned.

"How are we deploying, Doc?" Trust Jack to ruin a perfectly good setup line with practical considerations.

"Two options. We can set down on a flat surface big enough to hold the Skycar, or you guys can rappel out the back and deal with the bear while I go looking for a parking spot."

"Speaking of the bear, do we have some super tranquilizers, or rope, or I dunno, chains or something?" Couldn't let Jack take all the good questions.

"At this point we're looking at luring it back to the Zoo. The city has half a dozen snipers from the SWAT team set up with tranq guns. If we're lucky, the bear hasn't developed a resistance to tranquilizers."

"Great. So, we lure it back, they shoot it, and then what happens?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we're just trying to keep it away from civilians."

"Right. Speaking of bridges, isn't that the Schuylkill we're going over now?"

Angela banked the Skycar to look where he pointed, then swung around to head almost due north. Beneath them the river snaked back and forth, the land just beyond the banks slowly changing from industrial parks to strip malls to row houses. Jack cut in again just as Steve noticed the Art Museum.

"If I remember the local terrain right, there's a small, wooded island west by northwest of that big museum. Straight behind it, I think. If we set down there, we would be right in the bear's path."

Angela banked again, glancing at the ground to confirm the GPS had them in the right spot before leveling out and heading for the brightly lit museum. As they passed over it, she banked to the left and dove. The brightly lit boathouses shone across the water in front of them, the silhouette of the island dark against their twinkling reflections.

This close to the zoo, the reek of unwashed animal filled Steve's nostrils. The closer to the island they came, the stronger the scent got. Thirty feet above the surface of the river, he reached out and grabbed Angela's wrist.

"Ange, can you roll down the window a little?"

"That's contraindicated while we're airborne. The doors still open in case of emergency, but if you're going to barf, there are bags in the glove compartment."

"Stop going down. Y'know, I think that's the first time I've ever said those words in that order." Steve yanked at the door handle, shoving the door open with his foot. The smell of sweaty polar bear musk filled the cabin as the engines' whine made normal conversation impossible. Steve leaned out and looked down on the island, which had turned to face the boathouses. Eyes the size of trash can lids stared back up at him as the bear lifted its massive head from the water.

"Holy fuck! That thing's not a bear, it's a fuckin' kaiju!"

The massive ursine blinked as Angela revved the engines, lifting the Skycar away from its questing paw. She leaned over to Steve and shouted to be heard over the roaring jets.

"You're going to have to tell me how you know the Japanese word for 'giant monster'." She glanced back at Jack and Jesse. "Are you two ready to rappel down, or should I head to the boathouses?"

Steve couldn't wait for a reply. The moment it realized it couldn't reach the Skycar, the bear had lazily started toward the boathouses once more. Hundreds of partying coeds lined the docks, all of them staring at the hovering Skycar. Of course, not even one noticed the bear paddling toward them just under the surface of the water.

Only one thing he could do at this point. Steve popped the quick release on his seat harness, pulled his axe free from the dashboard holder, and rolled out the door.

"Hey! Teddy! I got your big stick right here!"