“Let the little people worry about the fires… we superheroes serve a higher purpose.”

–The General, overheard during the firestorms sweeping the Australian bush.

“We, too, are human.”

–Cold Comet’s ’s personal memoirs.

----------------------------------------

“The good news,” says Dark Fire, “is that you are getting a holiday.”

“Great,” says Little Voices.

“What’s the bad news?” I ask suspiciously, because no-one starts a conversation like that unless they are about to spoil my day.

“You might still die; it’s a working holiday. And you have to leave the Cerberus for a while. The stewards have already packed your bags for you, so get to the armory.”

We aren’t the only ones leaving the Cerberus: most of the team is already in the armory. The stewards try to separate us into groups, but we mostly ignore them as we talk to each other.

“What’s going on?” I ask Bad Memories, who seems to be in charge of organizing the exodus.

“Our cannons are down for maintenance, so you lot are being sent out to other bases. You’ll have to learn to use Comets like the other teams.”

“This seems like a bad idea… can’t we launch Comets from here instead?”

“No, the need for a fast response is too high at the moment. A lot of the teams suffered casualties from the titans’ attacks and aren’t up to full strength, so we have no choice but spread ourselves thin. You don’t have to like it, just to do it.”

“I don’t like it. So, where are we going?”

“You two are joining Never Lies’ team. Find her and she will explain.”

We wander over to where Never Lies is waiting with One Trick, Bad Day, and Simon Smith. All the other superheroes are already leaving, so it looks like we will be a team of six.

“Lucky seven!” says Little Voices.

“Six,” corrects One Trick.

“Seven, actually, but I don’t know how he could have known that. Our seventh is waiting for us,” says Never Lies.

She taps her data pad a few times as if wondering what to say next. She seems slightly crankier than usual, but I don’t know why.

“I know this situation isn’t ideal, but we have to make do. I’m leading this team from here on in, and if anyone has a problem with that then now is the time to say something,” she says sharply.

No-one does. I shrug and smile, because I’m very happy with my new team. Simon Smith stares right past us and nods at nothing in particular, a small and creepy smile on his face.

“Good,” says Never Lies, and I could swear she looks relieved.

“I have a question,” Little Voices asks innocently.

“Yes?”

“Where are we going?”

“Shut up and you will find out. Anyone else?”

“Can Chef come with us?” Little Voices says again.

Never Lies cracks a rare smile that disappears quickly and is replaced with her normal calm face and slight glare.

“No, but he’ll be sending over lasagna. Now suit up!”

We walk to our suits, but the technicians wave us away.

“We will pack the armor separately so that you can fly in comfort,” Bad Memories explains.

“No,” Never Lies says bluntly.

“Dark Fire said – ”

“Dark Fire isn’t in charge of this team. What use are this lot if they aren’t in armor?”

“I’m a pretty good cook,” quips Little Voices.

Never Lies shoots a glare at him and he smiles widely.

“Mostly Japanese food, but my Thai is pretty epic,” Little Voices continues, apparently without any regard for his own safety.

I can tell that he is already positioning himself as team smart-ass. I’m a little disappointed; I was hoping that could be my role.

“Suits!” snaps Never Lies.

We rush to get into our suits before she really loses her temper.

Our Comet takes under an hour to get to our destination, an island lost in the blue infinity of the Pacific Ocean.

“We were supposed to land the Comet down there and walk in… that doesn’t sound like much fun, really. Shall we make a proper entrance?” Never Lies asks.

The back of the Comet opens and Never Lies launches herself into the sky, and we follow without a moment’s hesitation. It’s a lot easier to jump out of a Comet than drop out of the cannon shell, so we fall in formation like sky divers. I can see about ten islands of different sizes below us. Several have small towns set along beaches, and I can see docks lined with small boats. Our target is the smallest island: a long strip of green grass and square buildings with red roofs arranged in neat blocks. The area would look like a park if it weren’t for the huge fences and gun turrets that surround its perimeters. The base has its own perfect beach complete with a line of surfers waiting for waves.

“Nice,” says Little Voices over our team radio.

“A big step up,” I agree.

Our team lands in perfect formation on the base grounds. Dozens of technicians and stewards swarm over us, and the Comet flies low overhead. A military officer walks up to Never Lies and salutes. She nods casually back. We take our suits off and head to the briefing room for a rundown of our duties. We are a small group, and I already feel like I’m part of a team as my new boss gives us the rundown.

“…so we are on call from eight in the morning until five in the afternoon each day. I’ve negotiated us a whole day off every week, but free time can be cancelled without warning. We have a large territory, so it’s going to be a busy time for us. We will be here for about three months while the Cerberus is repaired. Any questions?” says Never Lies.

“Do we have a name?” I ask.

“I think… the Island Seven. Comments?”

It’s not a name I would have picked, but the team is more important than the name.

“Where is our seventh member?” I ask.

“Arriving soon. Now, we have been asked to eat dinner with the officers tonight... I expect you all to be there, to be polite, and to avoid doing anything too stupid.”

We couldn’t say no, but the atmosphere in the officers’ mess is formal and tense. They don’t like being reminded that all their military might is ineffective against the saucers, and we don’t like the hierarchy of the traditional military. The officers ask us about fighting the saucers, but superheroes traditionally avoid such talk at dinner if we can. Our differences make the dinner an awkward affair, and I’m relieved when Never Lies tells us to get some sleep.

We are heading out of the mess when I see a familiar face waiting for me in the shadows. Little Voices’ eyes nearly pop out of his head as he recognizes her, and I swear he stops breathing for a few seconds.

“Hello,” she says with a warm smile.

Phoenix Pink has joined the Island Seven.

“But why?” Little Voices asks me as he cuts a triclops in half.

“I don’t know why – watch out for those flappers – but I don’t think we need to be suspicious.”

Little Voices grabs me and uses me as a shield as a dozen rockets bounce off my shields. Then he’s gone, jumping right over me and slicing at a pair of scouts that have gotten too close. I blast the flappers as they close in on him, and then he rolls out of the way as an oct-ape lands beside him. He cuts the ape in two as I blast it in the head. Sparks fly at my face, but I’m protected by my shields and aviators.

“I don’t know dude, I just don’t see an A-lister being that keen to slum at the coalface with us. She is cute, though,” he says.

“Incoming,” I say with a grin.

Little Voices rolls behind my shields as lasers cut at us, but my shields hold.

“See them?” I ask.

“Yup. Slingshot?”

He doesn’t wait for an answer, but grabs my arm and start spinning me in circles. He releases me and I shoot fast towards a rhinotank, slamming into it with such force that it crumples and falls apart.

“Nice!” I say, although I’m a little dizzy.

“Yup. We are killing at this!”

The air beside me flickers and Bad Day teleports beside us. He has a plasma pistol in each hand, but he doesn’t use them.

“Are you boys having fun?” he asks.

We are. We are only fighting a small saucer in a desert, miles from the nearest town, so we aren’t too worried about civilians or speed. Never Lies told us to get some practice with our partners, so Little Voices and I are working on our moves.

“One Trick and Phoenix Pink have placed the bomb, so Never Lies is going to call it in a second,” Bad Day says.

I’m impressed: One Trick and Phoenix Pink must have been working fast to get past the saucer’s defenses so quickly. The girls bonded quickly after they first met, and Never Lies has spent a lot of time training them. Our team has been working hard, and Never Lies has been pushing us to do even more.

“Here we go!” shouts Little Voices.

We turn to see the saucer explode in a plume of purple and red. It’s a beautiful sight that I never get bored of. A pair of tentacled squid-missiles tries to make the most of our distraction to throttle us, but Little Voices cuts them down with his sword without even looking around from the burning saucer.

We take flight and join One Trick and Phoenix Pink in the air above the desert. Bad Day appears beside us again, this time holding the arms of Never Lies and Simon Smith. They hadn’t taken part in the fighting, leaving it to the junior team members.

“Boys, you worked a good distraction. Girls, you hit hard. Bad Day, your flanking was excellent. And Simon Smith…”

She trails off, not knowing what to say. Simon Smith turns to her with that odd look on his face and waits for her to say something nice about him.

“Thanks for not getting involved, because we know you could have taken that whole saucer yourself,” I say.

Simon Smith nods serenely and starts floating upwards.

“Thanks… I wanted to say something nice but I didn’t know what. He’s a weird guy,” Never Lies mutters to me, but very quietly so that Simon Smith doesn’t hear.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

We can see triclops and scout walkers below us, their movements disorganized with the saucer gone. There was a time when even one of those creatures would have been too much for me, but these days they just look like target practice.

“Okay, let’s mix things up a little,” says Never Lies, “Little Voices and One Trick on one team, Danger Magnet and Phoenix Pink on a second, and Bad Day on a third. Most kills in the next hour gets the next lot of Chef’s lasagna tonight. Set?”

“Seems a little unfair that there are two of us versus one of him,” Little Voices says, nodding at Bad Day.

“Only unfair to you,” says Bad Day with a cocky smile.

“Go!” shouts Never Lies, and Bad Day is gone in a second.

He appears far below us, and I see a triclops explode into tiny pieces. A scout quickly joins it, and I realize that Bad Day will be hard to beat. Phoenix Pink and I descend and start blowing up everything we see. I take the opportunity to ask her a few questions, because I agree with Little Voices that it’s a little surprising that she joined an unknown team.

“Why are you here?” I ask, because I’m not known for my subtlety.

“I want to train with the best,” she says.

“Us?” I ask stupidly.

Bad Day uses my second of distraction to steal three kills from right in front of my eyes, then appears beside Little Voices and kills a triclops right in front of him. I can hear Tenchi’s bellow of frustration and he throws his sword right at the second triclops, splitting it in two.

“Not you, her!” Phoenix Pink points up at Never Lies who is watching us.

“Really? She’s pretty good, I guess, but the best?”

“The very best. I’ve seen the stats, and she’s the best team leader by far. And she’s so powerful! She could have taken the saucer alone with ease… but what’s up with that weird guy? You guys treat him with kid gloves.”

“Call him Simon Smith, and he’s scary powerful. I think he’s here so that Never Lies and Bad Day can keep an eye on him.”

“He seems really odd.”

“He’s really weird,” I say, but very quietly in case he hears me.

We finish off the lost flapper and head back up...

“Day got twenty-three, One and Voices got seventeen, Danger and Pink got fifteen,” says Never Lies.

“Losers,” adds Bad Day with a smile that shows he doesn’t mean it.

We are flying to the Comet when Never Lies grabs my arm and pulls me aside.

“I know this is only a training mission for us, but I want you to take it seriously. That means no chatting, okay? You should have done better today. You work well with Little Voices, but that’s not good enough unless you can work with everyone else as well.”

At first that seems a little mean of her to say, but I realize she’s right. If I hadn’t been talking to Phoenix we might have gotten more kills.

“Sorry, it won’t happen again,” I say.

Never Lies nods and flies off, leaving me feeling stupid. I shrug and join Little Voices.

“Okay, dude?” he asks.

I take my aviators off and place them carefully in a case.

“Yeah, the boss thinks I was slacking off a little… and I was.”

“Don’t worry about it; she’s always on at me, too. And her,” he says, nodding at where Phoenix Pink is talking to Never Lies.

Phoenix Pink drops back to us, and I can tell she isn’t happy.

“She pointed out a lot of mistakes,” she says sadly.

The air flickers beside us and Bad Day appears. He sees our faces and his smile fades.

“What’s up, guys?”

“Never Lies was a bit harsh,” I say.

“You would prefer what, cupcakes and tea? She can make a list of all the things you are doing right and not mention the mistakes that are going to get you killed. Do you think that would help?”

“No,” I admit.

“Maybe,” says Little Voices.

“That’s what I used to get. My old boss was always giving out kind words and treats,” says Phoenix.

We all look at her and she shrugs.

“I left that behind because it was making me soft,” she says.

“I didn’t like Never Lies when we first met,” says Bad Day, “but then I realized that she was seldom wrong with her advice. So I listened, and I improved. I’ll tell you a secret… Never Lies chose this team for herself. She expects big things from us.”

The Comet ride on the way home is a little too quiet. Never Lies is working on her data pad, Bad Day and One Trick are watching a movie, and the rest of us are sitting in awkward silence.

“Today was good, boss,” I say out loud.

Never Lies looks up in surprise and nods.

“Not bad. I think we have something special here,” she says.

“So I’m thinking we should celebrate by getting burgers in town,” I say.

“No. No – absolutely not.”

“Burgers!” shouts Little Voices.

“Nachos!” says Phoenix Pink .

“No!”

“I would also like a burger,” Simon Smith agrees.

“I can stay at the base in my suit in case I need to come and get you,” Bad Day says with a mischievous smile.

“I’ll stay, too,” adds One Trick quickly.

Bad Day and Never Lies share a moment of silent communication, and then Never Lies throws her hands up in exasperation.

“Okay, but nobody screw up. And that goes double for you two!” she says, pointing at Little Voices and me.

“Us?” I ask as innocently as I can.

“And you two better stay in your suits,” she says to Bad Day and One Trick.

“Us?” One Trick says, trying in vain to match my innocence.

“Great, just great. I suppose this is my own fault for being nice for once. Okay, let’s go get burgers.”

We land, get changed into jeans and t-shirts, and head down to a hoverboat parked on the dock. A bunch of armed sailors join us as escorts in a pair of hoverboats, and one jumps in to drive ours. Little Voices pushes the sailor away and takes over the controls. He hits the accelerator and the hoverboat bursts out from the jetty with a spray of water.

“Yeehaw!” he shouts.

We fly over the water, dodging between rocks and missing other boats by inches. The other hoverboats can’t keep up with us. Little Voices doesn’t need instructions on where to take the boat, but spins us past a set of docks and through a maze of fishing boats. It’s good fun, and we all enjoy the wind in our hair and the sun on our faces. The sailor with us isn’t as used to the adrenaline rush as we are, and by the time we get to the town he’s sitting under a chair with his head in his hands and groaning.

“Toughen up,” says Never Lies as she steps off the boat.

“Polish her up and we’ll be back in a few hours,” adds Phoenix Pink .

The sailor groans again as we jump out.

“We can’t use our code names out here,” Phoenix Pink says.

“We can,” says Never Lies flatly.

“No, Phoenix is right. We should choose awesome fake names,” Little Voices says.

“I’ll be Max,” I say.

“Max Power!” Little Voices adds, and we high five.

“I’ll be Marilyn,” Phoenix Pink says after a moment’s thought.

“That’s a silly name, you can do better,” Little Voices says.

“That’s my mom’s name,” Phoenix Pink says, clearly annoyed.

“Oh. In that case it’s a great name. I’ll be Bruce Lee, if you don’t mind.”

Never Lies sniggers but doesn’t interrupt.

Simon Smith seems to think for a moment, and stares up at the clouds as if looking for a name amongst them.

“I think… I think you can call me – ”

“Simon Smith,” we all chorus, and he nods.

“I like my code name,” Never Lies says, “I like it more than my actual name.”

“Which was what… Emily? Sarah? Apple? Betty?” I ask with a smile.

She glares at me, and I hide behind Phoenix Pink .

“We can call you ‘boss’, boss,” Simon Smith offers.

It’s such a rare occurrence that he offers anything other than his name that we all look at him. He shrugs and goes back to staring at the clouds.

“Let’s go, boss,” says Little Voices with his best Bruce Lee impersonation.

We start acting like the teenagers that we are, but Never Lies just rolls her eyes. We walk through the little town until we find a burger joint and march right up to the counter.

“Do we… does anyone have any money?” I ask.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had to pay for anything, and I’ve almost forgotten how. I haven’t carried cash on me since arriving at the Cerberus, and I have no idea if I have any money in the bank. Never Lies holds up a credit card and we order just about everything on the menu. It’s not as good as the food on the Cerberus but it is a lot better than the food at our current base, which tastes like porridge and old ham. We settle down in the sun and watch as normal people pass us during their normal lives. Part of me envies them.

“This is the life,” I say.

“We used to do this all the time, except everyone knew who we were so they kept taking photos. I prefer it this way,” says Phoenix Pink .

She grabs a handful of chips from my plate and dunks them in aioli. Little Voices smiles as he takes a huge bite of his burger. Only Never Lies seems unimpressed. She has a data pad in front of her and doesn’t take her eyes off it. I think that she’s having a good time despite her attempts to look grumpy.

“Don’t get used to this,” she mutters.

The shop has a few big TV screens showing holographic displays. I recognize the city displayed in one of them as where we recently fought the titans. Parts of the city are still smoking, and huge pieces of dead titan are being moved by cranes and work crews. The banner beneath the display reads ‘The General and his Elite Guard save another city’.

“That’s bull,” I say, pointing at it.

“That’s how the Super Corps works, Max. Our team doesn’t even officially exist, so we can never take any credit for anything we do.”

“Lame, lame, lame,” I say.

Across the road is a shop selling tat-a-guchis. After lunch we wander over to examine its wares. A short brunette is drawing a tat-a-guchi with a light pen on a big screen. A small dog sits patiently at her feet while she works. We look over the tats – they are all very good – but Simon Smith seems more interested in what the girl is drawing. He stands beside her, picks up a second light pen and adds a few details to her drawing. She doesn’t stop him, rather surprisingly, but starts chatting to him as she points out areas for him to draw on. I never thought Simon might be artistic in any way, but everything he adds is beautiful.

“Go Simon,” Phoenix Pink says.

Seven big guys walk into the shop and glare at us. They looks like they’ve just come from the gym, and all of them have bulging muscles and dark tans. They look like a rough crew, and some of them are carrying knives. One of them has scars all over his face, which might be intimidating to people who aren’t superheroes. I’m not worried; they are only human, after all.

“I asked you not to come back here, Carl,” the tat artist calls over her shoulder.

She sounds a little nervous. The guy called Carl swears loudly. He seems upset by Simon’s presence. A few of his crew mutter to each other and glare meaningfully in Simon’s direction.

“Those guys don’t seem happy,” Little Voices says.

“They don’t like Simon Smith talking to the girl who is drawing. If he had any sense of danger he would excuse himself, but you know how he is. Carl is going to start something by pushing Simon, and I want you three there when it happens. They will push, then Phoenix can try to calm them down. The guy with the scars looks like the type to take a swing, so Voices I want you to take him down if he tries. Danger, stand in front of Simon in case any idiot tries to hurt him.”

“And you?” I ask.

“I’ll stand here and watch. Coming here was your idea, you deal with it.”

Then Carl walks up to Simon and pushes him on the shoulder. The artist says something to placate him, but he pushes Simon again. Phoenix moves up to Simon and smiles at the guy causing problems, but he tries to brush her away.

“This is between that punk and me, darling,” he says.

Which is a mistake, because Phoenix Pink is a superhero and she does not take kindly to being pushed around. She catches his hand the next time he tries to push Simon Smith and puts him in an arm lock.

“I’m not your darling,” she says sweetly.

The guy with the scarred face takes a swing at Simon Smith, but Little Voices intercepts the blow and the guy goes down hard. One of Carl’s thugs tries to punch me, but I lay into him and he falls down. I grab Simon Smith and pull him out of the shop as a brawl erupts behind me. Never Lies is already outside, leaning against a pole and still reading her data pad. An unfamiliar voice in the shop yells and then screams, so Never Lies sighs loudly and heads indoors before Little Voices gets too carried away.

I pull Simon Smith down the street to wait for the others. He seems totally oblivious to all the problems he has caused.

“Beautiful blue snakes,” he says to me.

I hear a bark and turn to see the girl from the tat store and her dog.

“Hey, I’m Julie,” she says with a smile.

“Hey,” I say back with a small smile.

Her dog is under her arm.

“You guys are superheroes, aren’t you?” she asks shyly.

I look at Simon Smith, but he’s no help at all. He pats the little dog, and it licks his hand happily.

“I guess we are, although not the kind you might see on TV. I’m sorry about the fight,” I say.

The girl nods in understanding and then laughs as her little dog struggles in her arms. She passes it to Simon Smith and he holds it awkwardly.

“I’m sorry about Carl, he’s an ex-boyfriend that I deeply regret,” she says.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Simon Smith carries the little dog to a nearby tree and she sniffs it eagerly. I can hear that he’s talking to the little mutt, but I can’t hear what he’s saying.

“What’s your friend’s name?” Julie asks in a whisper.

“Call him Simon Smith,” I say.

“I like him… is he single?”

I’m so surprised that I laugh and hiccup simultaneously.

“I… have no idea. Yes? Yes, I’m pretty sure he’s single.”

“Then maybe you could bring him back to my tat shop sometime? I’d love to talk to him some more. He’s got a really amazing talent with the light pens.

“Seriously?” I ask, deeply shocked.

“Of course. Why?”

“He’s a bit… weird,” I say awkwardly, but only very quietly.

“Talented people are always a bit weird, but I don’t mind. Just bring him, okay?”

“Yeah. We better be going, though.”

Julie takes her dog from Simon Smith, invites him to visit her at her art shop anytime, and then starts to walk away. She looks over at us to flash one last brilliant smile, but as she does so she stumbles and falls, dropping the leash. Her little dog darts across the road and right into traffic.

“The dog,” Simon Smith yells, running after it.

He leaps over Julie and right into the road, and I am right behind him. Months of training have left me faster than I’ve ever been before, but Simon Smith is quicker still and gets in front of me. He grabs the dog as a truck screeches down the road towards him. He doesn’t get out of the way, but sticks a hand up as if to tell the truck to stop. The truck doesn’t stop, but I reach them just in time to push him out of the way. The truck slams into me, and the world shoots past as I’m flung through the air.

I wake up in the gutter with an ambulance parked nearby and a dozen people standing around me. The last thing I see is Julie and Simon Smith standing together, with the dog in Simon Smith’s arms. He smiles and I give him the thumbs up.

I wake up in a hospital bed, but not the one I’m used to. It’s crowded in here, with dozens of beds all full with the sick and injured. I’m in a neck brace and I have a lot of tubes running in and out of my arms. I feel a little groggy, but I’m awake enough to realize I’m in a general hospital, not a military one.

An elderly doctor notices that I’m awake and walks over to talk to me.

“Can you tell me your name and what happened?” she asks.

“Urgh…” I manage.

That’s a pretty poor start to any conversation, but I’m not sure why I’m here or what name I should give her. Everything about me is super-secret, and I don’t want to get her into trouble.

“Call me… Max,” I say at last.

She gives me a worried look and writes something on her data pad.

“Okay, Max. Witnesses say you were hit hard by a truck, rolled away, stood up, got hit again by a motorcycle and thrown into a concrete pole. You should be dead from the head injury alone, so you are very lucky to be awake. We have your x-rays and other scans coming in at any moment.”

A second doctor runs over and whispers in her ear. A nurse joins them, and then another. I’m quickly surrounded by medical staff of all ages and levels who stare at me as if I’ve grown a third arm from my forehead.

“That doesn’t make any sense – ”

She opens her data pad and then swears loudly. I grab the pad and look at the results – my body is basically all metal rods, plastic tubes and artificial organs sewn into place. I can see jagged lines where bones have broken and been rejoined, and odd white coils in my muscles. Just looking at the screen makes me feel quite queasy, and I turn away.

“What have they done to you?” a doctor gasps.

The air shimmers beside me and Bad Day appears, scaring the doctors and nurses away. He picks me up and slings me over his shoulder as if I weigh nothing.

“We are never going to hear the end of this one,” he says with a sigh.

Never Lies may never forgive me, but it’s all worth it when Simon Smith brings a set of new tat-a-guchis to our team briefing. The tats are seven blue serpents joined in a circle around a perfect tropical island, and they are beautiful.