Chase and Gar walked down the long corridor in Canada’s Parliament building. Politicians and workers all paused at the sight of them. Most were staring at Gar.
“I hate when they stare like that,” Chase said.
Gar smiled and gave a brief wave at a young lady. “I am not offended. I am strange.”
“I know. But it’s still rude.”
Just then a familiar face greeted them. An older gentleman approached. “Ms. Chase, Mr. Gargoyle.”
Chase met him with a handshake. “Ambassador. Thank you for your help.”
He walked them onward. “After you spoke to me yesterday at the Space Station, I knew I had to get this done quickly. Prime Minister Fontaine was more than pleased to help expedite the situation.”
They continued down the hall, gaining more gawking stares. Finally, Ambassador Jones directed them into a regal-looking room where the Prime Minister of Canada chatted with several people.
“Mr. Prime Minister, the officials from BADGE are here.” The Ambassador announced.
A white-haired, strict looking man with a thin white beard approached them. Unlike everyone else, his stony gaze was unaltered at the sight of these people. “Ah, good. Very good. It is very nice to meet you.” He shook Chase’s hand. “I do not believe I know of you.”
“I am Chase, a representative of BADGE.”
“Good. Yes. Director Nova mentioned you. He must think highly of you.” He turned to Gar with what might almost be a smile. He took Gar's hand. “You are Mr. Gargoyle, the living statue. I have waited for years to finally meet you in person.”
“It is nice to meet you, sir. But why so interested?”
“Four years ago, I was in Italy to meet with officials about the strange portals that appeared. About the time I arrived, that horrible creature came out and attacked. We were not far away in a hidden bunker when he began his rampage. If you had not stopped him, I shudder to think of what might have happened. You, my friend, saved my life. I admit this is why I asked for you to come for this, so I may personally thank you.”
“It was a hard battle, sir. I regret not stopping him before he did what damage he was capable of.”
“Still. Bravery and courage, sir, is something to be commended.” A man leaned over and whispered in the Prime minister’s ear. He nodded, “Yess, yes. Right away.” He returned to these two. “We must conclude our business here, so much for me to take care of. I had them brought from the two laboratories.”
Two of the other men in the room came up with small boxes. Each opened and revealed red shards. One asked, “What do you need these for, may I ask?”
Chase said, “We are keeping them safe from others who would want to use them for evil purposes.”
The other man asked, “What evil could be done with shards of a broken ruby?”
Gar answered, “We don’t know. But some really bad people are looking for these. So, we will keep them safe. Director Nova said once this is over, if these are not dangerous, we will return them.”
The Prime Minister said, “And we trust him at his word. Now, they will be turned over to you.”
Gar accepted the boxes and held them close. They said their thanks and goodbyes and left. A small contingent of Parliament Hill security led them out of the building and stayed with them until they stopped in the middle of an open square.
Chase opened her comm device, “We’re here.”
In a flash of light, one of BADGE’s new shuttles appeared from under the cloaking device, another recent development from studying Legion tech. Gar got in first and placed the boxes in a secured safe inside the shuttle. Chase stepped in and the security waited while the shuttle lifted off the ground.
“Where to next?” Chase asked.
The robot piloting pressed a button and a holographic screen appeared with the Director already waiting for them.
“Did you have any trouble getting the shards?”
Gar said, “Nope. They were very happy to help.”
“Good. I hope all the nations with these shards are just as easy to work with.”
Chase said, “Well, this is Canada.”
“True. Okay, orders. Gar, you will head to Melbourne Australia and meet Quark there. You will retrieve a shard at the Royal Exhibition Building. Chase, you will meet Star Master in Okinawa, from there, you two will head to North Onnotangu.”
Chase’s complexion faded, “Onnotangu? You can’t be serious. They have a shard?”
Nova gave a grim nod. “It appears they have three. Two were found there, one they had stolen from China. And it isn’t impossible they will have even more.”
Gar asked, “What is wrong with that place?”
Chase said, “That nation is locked up tight. I’ve tried smuggling artifacts out of there before, one of the most paranoid places on earth. And it’s run by an infantile dictator with delusions of godhood.”
Nova added, “And they don’t like superheroes.”
Gar cocked his head, “Who doesn’t like a superhero?”
Nova said, “North Onnotangu has been run by a tightly controlling dictatorship for seventy-five years. Anything that might upset that power is seen as a dangerous threat. Any superpowered people there are dealt with by the state. Most have been executed, some just vanished. Even BADGE has trouble getting spies in there to learn what is going on.”
Chase said, “If you can’t send in spies, what do you expect me to do?”
Nova gave her a half-cocked smile. “Chase, I know your talents. You’re capable of getting into places that even the most well-trained spies wouldn’t dare attempt. In fact, you got in and out of Onnotangu at least three times on our records.”
“And barely got out with my skin each time. Almost made enough money to make it worth it. Swore I wouldn’t ever go back after they nearly killed me the last time.”
Just then there was a series of flashes inside the cabin. A man appeared and fell back against Gar. “WOAH!” He rolled off and hit the ground. “Wow, that’s gonna leave a headache.”
Gar was too shocked to respond quickly, Chase already had her blades ready.
“STAND DOWN!” Nova barked.
The man rolled over to a sitting position and held up his hands. “Watch it! It’s me, Starmaster.”
Chase lowered her arms. “Oh, sorry.”
Nova answered, “Getting to it now. Chase, Starmaster, when you arrive in Okinawa, we will give you your attire, equipment, and all the details we know about the location and security around the ruby shards. Chase, your job is to get those shards. You can crack any safe, break into any vault, use those skills at your best. Leave as little evidence as possible. I don’t need them knowing that BADGE was behind this.”
“Can do. I stole several things from BADGE’s best security vault, and you still don’t know that it was me.” She had a sneaky smile as she admitted this.
Nova had a look that told everyone he would conduct another high-level inventory later. He turned to Starmaster, “Your job is simple. Get in and retrieve those shards. Assist Chase, she has the lead.”
Starmaster asked, “What if we get into a fight?”
“Don’t. Do not reveal you are super-powered to them. We aren’t sure what they will do, but we are certain they have means to harm superheroes. If it comes to a fight, only do so as long as it takes to get out of there. Even if you don’t get the shards, we can’t have you two captured by them. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Starmaster said.
Chase said, “We will get the shards and be back at the station in no time.”
Nova turned to Gar, then looked at his watch. “Time to head out.”
Gar gave him a confused look, but then Starmaster reached over and touched him. “Have fun.” With a flash, Gar vanished and appeared just outside the invisible shuttle. He fell for a moment and then caught the air with his wings and began his flight. Fortunately, his communicator gave him the directions so he would get to Australia from here.
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