Leaving Las Vegas


    “Welcome back to Conversation Hour, from Nimble House. We still have the lovely Solaris here. Now Solaris, my daughter has asked me a question, and I hope it’s not to awkward to ask. Why, when you can fly, have you also learned to be a pilot, and fly so often in civilian transportation?”


    “That’s not awkward at all, Richard. A lady must keep her hair neat, if given an option. While I don’t mind being a bit mused if I’ve had to put in a bit of work, against the Nazi’s or some criminal, that is one thing, but flying across town and being windblown would be unforgivable.”


    Solaris and Richard Surrard, on the Nimble House Conversation Hour Radio Show, 1944.


    "Order a full spread." Elizabeth told Elenore as they got back to the suite. “I need to shower and change.”


    She went into the bathroom and stripped. Now in private she allowed her pain to show. Her stomach and torso were red with bruises. They''d heal quickly but would hurt like hell until then. She was glad for the walk in shower, washing the fountain and bits of Chimera out of her hair and off her skin as quickly as she could, hunger catching up with her.


    She dried off and pulled on a soft, loose t-shirt dress, not wanting anything rough against her skin. "Anyone else need to sluice off?” She sniffed. “Levi you go shower next door. Erica, can you get him some clean clothing. Just throw those away."


    “I call dibs on this shower.” Mercedes said. “Even when the wood flaked off, I still feel like my hands are slimy.”


    Solaris sat down on one of the chairs fighting a wince as her back hit the fabric. "I asked before but after a fight like that things can be hazy. Is everyone okay, no one was hurt? I am sorry I couldn’t come help you.”


    “Basic combat training kind of came with the academies. They’re not nicknamed cape-school for nothing.” Anzy said with a sigh. “I’ve never been sure about suiting up, but I know my way around a fight. Same is true for all of us.”


    "By the way, you''re trending on Twitter.” Elenore said as Levi and Mercedes disappeared to bathe. “Bombproof Bombshell battles Chimera. The Media is asking for any details, or knowledge, about you, us, or what the fight was about. The theory is he was gunning for you."


    She blinked trying to remember what Twitter was. "They are mostly right. Apparently, he came to see if there was anything he could eat in the Atomic Museum. Then when there wasn''t he saw me and decided to have a rematch, he''s never forgiven himself or me for a ''girl'' taking him down.”


    "Villain types tend to have enormous egos, and misogyny isn’t dead yet. Part of the reason they do what they do. And for the drama." Elenore observed.


    "Stll, they focused mostly on you, but glowing and fighting a massive mutant will draw the eye. There''s only a few mentions of us."


    “That is not a bad thing, especially if you want to live more normal lives. Solaris said. "Any trouble with the police Penny?” Solaris asked, as her assistant and companion walked in.


    “No, it’s Chimera, so things where pretty cut and dried as far as the cops where concerned.” Penny said.


    “How bad was the fallout from the attack?”


    "Three cops, two bystanders." Penny said. "At that site. He''d apparently done some sort of raid on the Atomic Museum earlier in the day which was only limited by the place being closed at the time. Honestly, this is the least damaging attack he''s engaged in, confirmed, for decades."


    "And he really didn''t seem to like you." Erica said, then looked closer at Solaris. "And I mean that, your ribs are bruised, and I think he cracked your sternum, though it''s already healing."


    Solaris blinked then remembered the girl’s super-vision abilities. "Oh, he loathes me, and he still hits like a train.” She closed her eyes. "I can’t believe he was hiding in a fountain. The best way to beat him is to get him in water. He can’t swim and water bogs him down, that''s how we beat him the first time. We froze him in a lake. Weirdly, he can actually breathe underwater, so he loves to hide in it in spite of that fact."


    “To be fair, you can''t breathe under water so he might have been thinking of drowning you." Penny suggested. "Also, there''s just not many places something as big as him can hide and strike out in Vegas that I''m aware of."


    "Still an idiot." Solaris said simply. She could hold her breath a long time, enhanced stamina had all sorts of odd effects on the body. "I didn''t know he got any civilians. Damn. Where are we on getting the plane? Zakai is probably going to want us out of Vegas."


    "The plane is actually here, but I was having techs go over it with a fine-toothed comb just because we weren''t in a hurry. I doubt it’ll be ready to fly tomorrow." Penny admitted. "Speaking of which, I just got an email, and he wants quite the opposite. He is asking if you are willing to do a Las Vegas morning show, and then a few interviews with the cable news channels."


    She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Yes, that is fine, most of the surface bruising and such should be camera healed by tomorrow. How is he wanting to handle the Fledglings? I personally would prefer to keep them as out of it as possible. Although, I guess I should ask, do any of you actually WANT media attention?"


    "Um, I think we should revisit that later." Elenore said, peeking over Penny''s shoulder. "He has notes about how we can be there if needed or wanted, but we don''t need to be. My guess, they''re asking about you, not us. I can come if they need to interview someone. I can be the proper balance of eloquent and boring."


    "You can just tell them that you had help from new friends who aren''t seeking media attention if worse comes to worse."


    "He''s also asking if we need him to find a camera crew, or if we have a camera and microphone worth using." Elenore glanced at Erica. "We can go get something, then you can limit the number of people you''re having to deal with in here."


    "I''m confused, why would we need camera people? Don''t the news shows provide those?" Solaris asked.


    "The news show is at a studio in town." Penny said. "And they''re the affiliate for Fox here, so they can interview there too, but the other channels aren''t aligned with the studio and thus don''t play nice. That''s going to be about six interviews on top of the morning show."


    "Alright purchase what you need. Anzy, Mercades, did either of you study photography, so you can act as a camera person?”


    “Photography is actually my hobby, but my camera body recently gave up the ghost.” Elenore said. "All three of us have worked with cameras before, though. Anzy has a food insta, and Mercedes likes to take pictures of landscapes she wants to paint. We know what you need and we still have the cash you gave us. We can run and get the gear now."


    "Penny can give you a card to use. Get everything you think we need and a bag to put it in. This is not going to be the last time this happens."


    "Will do. We''ll pick up a go pro or two as well. Somehow I see those being useful in the future too."


    "Whatever you think we need. the door rang, "that''s probably room service. would one of you please go fetch it in?"


    A pair of slightly nervous looking hotel employees stood with the large food trolleys. "Room service."


    "Right to the table please. Thank you very much for bringing it so quickly."


    "No problem. The boss also sent up two bottles of wine, gratis.” The server said as they rolled the food to the table quickly rolling the carts back out. "Penny, can you grab some socks to pour that ice in. It would feel a treat on these bruises. " Solaris said with a bit of a blush, gesturing at the wine buckets.


    "Yeah, let me grab that."


    The girls had been talking, and two Anzy''s popped into existence next to the first and left setting everyone''s food out on the table while the third left to fetch the camera gear. "Well, other than the fight, the stay in Ceasars has been fantastic and I admit, while I''d rather NOT deal with giant monsters, keeping people from being hurt by it was nice. But god I hate when one of me gets popped." She shivered. “It’s going to take a day or two to get five back. I am achy for a while afterwards.”


    "I can’t Imagine that it is a pleasant experience." Solaris said sympathetically. "And I agree this was a lot of fun, save for Chimera. It''s going to take ages to clean the fountains."


    "I suspect they''d rather that, than Chimera have gotten into a full on rampage. That would have been at least the Bellagio and Paris destroyed, and thousands of casualties. The Golden Knights had been responding to something on Fremont Street when the attack happened, so were distracted. Street Sheppard showed up while I was talking to the cops, and wanted to express his apologies that the team couldn''t break off what they were doing to help."


    "It''s dealt with. That''s what''s important.” She smiled at Penny as she slid one ice laden sock between her back and the chair, the other on her chest, the cool felt good. "Thank you. Never let them see you hurt. It''s why I used to order a chilled wine after a fight. Zakai have anything else he needs us to do or is he busy arranging the interviews now?"


    “No, he said take it easy. And to go out if you wanted to.” Penny said


    “I may have to take some measures to walk around after that.” Anzy handed her a steak, realizing Solaris was in enough pain she wasn’t going to move if she didn’t have to. “Thank you Anzy. Penny can you pick up some Giants baseball kit to wear. If I wear a different team and change the hair up it might help with getting mobbed. I can take something more appropriate to the studio. Then I think it is time to relax, by the pool.”Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Penny nodded "That sounds good, I’ll call down and get a private cabana, it will hopefully encourage people to give you some space. Did you all bring swimwear?"


    Anzy nodded. "We did. And considering the shops here, getting some wouldn''t be hard."


    "Good, we need a quiet day” Solairs said between bites of steak. “ If I''m being honest, I am going to be very sore tomorrow so not really want to move a lot. I almost never go full strength, and with Chimera you don''t hold back."


    "We''re probably lucky he didn''t realize how powerful the water cannons were. I mean, those things hit with the force of industrial hydraulics if I remember correctly. Stripping flesh was about the best result he could have hoped for."


    Solaris nodded. "It felt a lot like being hit with artillery. One day we will have to come back and see the show properly."


    "They are going to need a hazmat team to remove the husk and bits from the water. the tourists are going to love that show." Erica said wryly, rolling her eyes.


    "Well, either way, I''m tired and I''ve eaten my dinner." Mercedes, who had quietly reappeared in a very long shirt that she apparently stole from Penny, said. "I think I am ready to turn in. Going Ent always leaves me needing a rest anyway."


    The two taxi-vans paused at the entrance to the private plane terminal two days later. "It looks like someone leaked." Penny muttered, looking out. The gate was nearly blocked by people with signs, mostly positive or outright gushing for Solaris with security personnel trying to back them off.


    "Money talks." The impromptu media blitz she''d had to do was exhausting, especially injured, and they''d had to change her room because people found out where she was. The blonde woman was looking forward to getting back to her house, with its walls and gates. "How do we get through? I don''t want to encourage bad behavior by getting out."


    "Security is clearing them. Fortunately, I had the good sense to go with the taxi service instead of Uber." Penny muttered. They were in unmarked vans, with tinted windows, so even those trying to peer into the vans couldn''t see. "This is just wild."


    It took several minutes, but the security personnel finally pushed the crowd back and opened the gate, letting the two vans through. They followed a road to the FBO building, entering the passenger terminal for private jets, which bordered on luxurious, like a very nice hotel lobby. A concierge was there to meet them. "Good afternoon! Summers Party, I hope?"


    "Yes, I do apologize for the hassle." she said politely. “Did all the baggage arrive?"


    "We have celebrities of all kinds go in and out of here. It''s nothing new. The baggage has arrived and has been loaded, though the plane is currently being fueled. That is slightly behind schedule due to other issues. The flight crew arrived yesterday, and I am assured they are fully conversant with the aircraft in question and the catering was delivered an hour ago."


    "Thank you. I truly appreciate your professionalism. Do you think we will have issues on the other end of the flight?” She was hoping New York was still delightfully cynical.


    "To my knowledge, no. Fortunately we have an FBO facility at your arrival airport so we were able to call and talk to them. They are aware of what''s happening here, and our concierge on the ground is ordering limo service to take you and your companion’s home with minimal issue. Fortunately, Republic airport isn''t where people assume the famous folks are going to go."


    “Thank you again. I look forward to using your services in the future. Let’s get aboard.” She said, following the steward to a delightfully nondescript white plane. “This is perfect Penny.”


    "I thought you''d like it. And it was honestly about the smallest that checked all the boxes." she admitted.


    They were led to the plane, where a woman in a business casual outfit with the branding of the crewing service Penny had hired greeted them. "The pilots are completely the pre-flight checks if you all wish to come aboard. I''ll bring out breakfast when we are in the air and settled at altitude." She explained.


    Thank you. The group headed up the stairs and onto the plane, finding plush seats and comfortable decor. “Ahh this is what I remember” Solaris said, settling into a comfy chair. “Seriously Penny you did a great job. This is comfort without being flashy. The plane is very unassuming among the private planes I had seen outside. I really like it.”


    "No reason it has to be flashy. It’s good to be low key sometimes." She agreed, sitting across from her, Elenore also joining them in the quartet of facing seats, along with Granny Ruan. The other four kids went to the back of the plane, admiring the nice features. "Though we''ll be getting rotating crew until we figure something out for that."


    “Well, we can just hire people we like from the agency. There is usually a fee. But it’s worth it to slowly build a crew that will work for and with us. And I’m not sure how much flying we’ll do short term anyhow.”


    "And that''s ignoring training up some of this crew to fill in some of the jobs."


    “True, some of them do have stick training. And we were going to take classes ourselves so maybe we can get a bulk discount.”


    "At this point, I''d bet we can. Especially if we make noises about buying something smaller. A lot of the training places double as maintenance and sales. And while this suits many of your needs, I could see you wanting to take short hops that might not be worth the cost of spinning up a jet with this kind of power and range."


    “Something to think about. Any new news from Zakai?”


    “He says the interviews are trending well, and there’s interest in follow up. He also said there has been reach out by a few other, non-media agencies."


    “Non media agencies?” Solaris asked curious. “You mean like charities?


    "Yes, and advertisers. The more agency to you, I suspect, is some hero organizations have reached out."


    “Oh? What organizations?”


    "He didn''t give me the full list, but the Guardians current leadership, St. Nicks, and The Guild for one."


    “The first two do not surprise me, I was going to reach out to them soon anyways, who are the Guild?”


    "The guild is a little hard to explain. You''ve met Luna Fuego, who is independent though she sometimes works as a stringer with the local hero team in New York." Penny said. "That''s pretty common, but the guild is relatively new. They''re trying to form a more universal, if less officially organized association to provide non-field support as well as making it easier for indies to contact each other. They''ve had an uphill battle however, because they want their members to be more ''transparent'' with things like identity. At least internally. Since this becomes a bit of a security issue not everyone is excited by that." Penny trailed off.


    “Not everyone wants to drag all the troubles to their homes and families. Look at Chimera, it’s only a matter of time before he builds himself up and tries attacking me again. I’m willing to talk to them but I’m a public hero, I always have been. I believe in heroes supporting each other. That’s part of why the Network with the Tailors and such exists”


    "For the record, I''m going to install some defenses at the house." Penny  said nonchalantly.


    "Me too!'' Called out Erica.


    "Her too."


    The jet began to taxi, approaching the runways, the cabin much better soundproofed than the ones on the jumbo jet they''d flown before. That, plus the engines being further back, meant easier to keep a conversation going. "Please buckle up, we’ll hopefully be taking off shortly." The stewardess said, before disappearing to her own seat.


    The sound of clicking seatbelts filled the plane. “Go wild expense what you need to keep our home safe. Just try to keep it subtle and don’t accidentally blow-up Thud.” Solaris said.


    "He''ll likely have one of the controls for whatever I do. I promise, only a couple of railguns. Probably."


    “Hide them in planters or something. We don’t want to upset the neighbors


    "I''ll talk to Mercedes and figure out what we can do." she chuckled. "I suspect a few other groups, like the Manhattan Unmatched, that''s the local team though it''s somewhat informal, are looking to talk to you."


    “Let’s talk to the Guardians and St Nicks first. The Guardians because it’s my team, and St Nicks because they probably have my super gear! I still haven’t found it.”


    "The Guardians are not quite the team you remember, they are now the United States National Team, and receive the permitted funding from the US.” Penny informed her. “They have currently ten members, though it rotates between six active, on site at a time. The four off will go ''home'' and be more local for a time or go completely to down time. I think it''s a six-month rotation. The only exception is the team leader, Pinnacle. I hear he takes vacations from time to time, but otherwise is twenty-four seven on site at their current headquarters, Guardian Island."


    “We got an Island? Well, that is an upgrade, even if the Congressional golf course was lovely.” She smiled “Tell me about Pinnacle? What kind of hero is he?


    " Pinnacle ''s reputation is he’s a hard ass, but he tends to get into fights with things like Chimera, or worse, and deals with massive disasters on the monthly so it may just come with the job."


    “I believe the saying is ‘been there done that’.” Solaris said wryly. The sense of gravity increased, and they lifted off, Solaris closed her eyes savoring the sensations of lift off.


    Before long the aircraft reached its cruising height, leveling out and settling into a relatively quiet cruise. At that point the stewardess rose and raised the folding tables from their wall sheaths, then pulled several platters out of where they were stored, laying a pair of trays on the folding tables. "We have a European breakfast display of pastries and croissants, sliced meats and assorted cheeses with fresh fruit and yogurt." She said, placing a plate in front of each person. "We have assorted juices and coffee or perhaps a bloody Mary to drink with brunch?"


    “This is what flying was like for me a month ago.” Solaris said happily. Placing her napkin in her lap and taking a bite of a lovely, warmed croissant.


    "It is a bit more civilized. And I''ll take a coffee please."


    "Bloody Mary." Grandmother said, with a smile. "I hate flying. But this is better."


    “Gin and tonic please.” Solaris said, smiling as the fledglings heard they could get booze with breakfast.


    "Well, we can pour them out when we get home." Penny chuckled. "But can you blame them. Big changes going on."


    “They have reasons to celebrate.” She delicately ate some fruit, “I love pineapple. When we get home, we need to get them in with the Tailor, get them fitted for formal wear, I think Elenore will need a bit more time at Bergdorfs, she’s going to want a media polish, I have a feeling the Fox show won’t be her last time speaking with me on screen. Do you think we should just spa day for all of the ladies?”


    "Oh yes. I''m not sure Levi would appreciate it, nor would it last." Penny mused. "He strikes me as a fidgeter."


    "He is, but that''s okay. He''s a man who works with his hands, he''s meant to move." Granny Ruan said with a nod.


    “I wasn’t going to even try.” Solaris admitted. “I have known many mechanics; he’ll have one nice suit that we will have to remind him when to wear. And a spare jacket and tie for when he “ruins” them.”


    "Maybe I''ll just take him to Men''s Warehouse for off the rack, and we can let him get some nice tools instead of nice clothes."


    “Yes… I don’t t think he’d enjoy the pomp. We need to find a shop for them to work out of, our garage is large but not that large. And I kind of want a race car.”


    "I think I found something. I want to go look at it to be sure, but there''s a place about fifteen minutes from the house, give or take, that used to be the headquarters for a Limo rental company. It''s got two bay doors, a big ''warehouse'' space, as well as a lobby, breakroom, and an upstairs set of offices, an open area for conference table or secretary area''s and three offices. I suspect we can come in well under what they are asking, assuming there isn''t junk in it we can probably put lifts and get tools in there and get right to doing something with it."


    “Depending on the lobby we might be able to put more bays in, make sure we use all the building. Offices would be useful for Elenore. So, she has a place to work.


    "Room for repair bays is not going to be a problem, but I''ll let the kids figure out where they want to put things." Penny admitted. "I figure we do this the way the accountant wants, do a business loan for automotive restoration I suppose and then we can give the kids a monthly amount to spend on cars to repair for charity like you said, between big projects when they come up. Keep an eye out for a restorable supercar or classic in a junker auction."


    Solaris leaned back sipping her drink. “We could treat it as a trial run for the manor. Save for, hopefully, all the remediations, it will have a lot of the same needs. Renovation, space and team management. What do you think?” she looked at Elenore


    "I don''t mind taking it on as a starter project." Elenore said. "I admit, I am nervous I won''t do as well as I hope. I pray I can rely on you to mentor me a bit."


    Solaris nodded. It also gives you something to do, though I’m sure other little projects will raise their head. They usually do.”