Girl Power Omnibus (Gender Swap Superhero Fiction) Read online

  “If the rest of us are girls too, what happened to Apex?” the impostor Midnight Spectre asks.

  “We were trying to figure that out. She disappeared not long before you guys showed up.” Robin glares at the impostors. “I bet you don’t know anything about that.”

  “We were as surprised to see you girls as you were to see us,” Apex Man says.

  “Uh-huh.”

  Major Hall puts up his hands. “We’ll let you girls make a call home. Tell them you’ve got some business here to take care of. Then you all go into lockdown until this gets sorted out.”

  “The hell with that!” Robin says at the same time her male counterpart does. Apex Man clears his throat. Robin looks down at the floor. She knows if this Apex Man is an exact replica of the other he’ll keep them here out of some misplaced sense of patriotism. “Fine, but I’ll need to call Jasper.”

  “And Melanie,” Elise teases.

  “Who’s Melanie?” the impostor Midnight Spectre asks.

  “Robin’s girlfriend,” Elise says.

  Her male counterpart roars with laughter. “Wait, so you’re gay now and I’m not? Classic.”

  “Shut up!” Robin shrieks. Apex Man or no she’s ready to wring Lord Neptune’s neck. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “All right, everyone settle down,” Major Hall says. “I’ll arrange for quarters at Andrews for all of you. We’ll make sure to keep both teams far apart. I don’t want any contact between you until we figure out who’s who. Now, girls, go out and make your phone calls. The men can stay here while I set things up.”

  Robin doesn’t like the idea of leaving the men alone with the major, but there’s really no choice without starting a fight. She decides to follow Allison and Elise into the outer office. She dials a phone number, but it’s not for the mansion. The number is a direct link to the bunker’s computer. “Execute directive Sigma Epsilon Tango,” she whispers.

  “Acknowledged,” a computerized voice says. Robin disconnects the call. If that impostor manages to get out of here and show up at the bunker, he should find the mainframes completely emptied of data and the systems on the vehicles disabled. None of the equipment will be able to function until she gives the override code.

  With a smile she decides to call Melanie after all.

  Chapter 10

  Over the next week Starla becomes accustomed to her new life as a dishwasher. She spends most of the day working at the sinks, scrubbing until her puny muscles throb with pain. If she ever flags, Bertha shouts at her like a drill instructor to get back to work.

  “Don’t let her get to you,” Greta says. “You’re doing a great job.”

  “Thanks.” Since she hasn’t gotten paid yet, Starla continues to stay with Greta. They quickly fall into a routine where Greta gets up first to make breakfast while Starla showers. Over breakfast Starla reads the newspaper to find out the latest with the Super Squad.

  There’s not much to find out. Despite Kate’s tenacity, the military has refused to say more than it’s investigating the incident in New Zealand. The same grainy photos of Apex Man and the rest of the male Super Squad run over and over again. Starla has examined these as best as she can with her bad eyes, but she can’t see anything to disprove that this man is really who she used to be.

  She still hasn’t tried to get in touch with the military or any of her friends on the female squad. If she’s lucky maybe they’ll think she found a way to change herself back. Maybe they’ll think this person really is her. Then he can handle all the pressures of being the world’s most powerful superhero. After a while, maybe Kate will write an editorial wanting Apex Girl back.

  She smiles at this thought as she polishes a dish with a towel. In a way this is the best thing that could happen to her. The weight of the world can finally be taken off her shoulders. That is if this Apex Man turns out to be the genuine article. What if he’s some kind of monster in disguise? She doesn’t want to think about that.

  The other good thing about this Apex Man showing up is it has bumped the search for Starla Marsh off the front page. The police might still be looking for her, but the story is no longer in the newspaper. That should prevent anyone from seeing a picture of the old her and connecting it to the new her.

  “Come on, kid, it ain’t quitting time yet,” Bertha growls.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  As she finishes with the last plate, Greta comes into the kitchen. She pats Starla on the shoulder. “I think you can knock off for the night.”

  “I need to put these away—”

  “Bertha can handle that. Come on, let’s get some dinner.”

  “Oh, sure.” Starla expects them to go back home, but instead Greta takes her to a Chinese restaurant around the corner. Starla feels a little underdressed in a grimy T-shirt and blue jeans taken from a donation box, but no one seems to pay her any mind.

  They’re ushered to a booth in the corner. Greta orders waters for both of them. “What are we doing here?” Starla asks after the waitress has left.

  “I thought I’d take a night off from cooking. Plus I thought we could celebrate you surviving your first week.”

  “Oh, gee, thanks,” Starla says.

  “I’ll admit I wasn’t sure you’d make it. Bertha can be hard to work with. She’s driven off more than a few people.”

  “It’s not so bad.” Starla holds up her hands. “See, I’ve even got dishwasher’s hands now.”

  “You certainly do. I’m so proud of you.” She reaches across the table to pat Starla’s hand. “Tell me, how good are you with sums?”

  “Sums? You mean like math? I’m OK, I guess.”

  “You think you could handle a cash register?”

  “A cash register?”

  “Tanya’s been operating our thrift store, but she’s getting pretty far along into her pregnancy. I thought maybe you could take her place.” Before Starla can say anything, Greta puts up a hand. “I’m afraid it doesn’t pay any more, but at least you wouldn’t have to wash dishes all day.”

  “That sounds wonderful. Thank you so much.”

  “You’ve earned it, dear.” Greta pats her hand again. Then she clears her throat. “I suppose we had best figure out what we’re ordering.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Starla says with a grin.

  ***

  Robin wishes she could throw the dumbbell through the television screen currently showing one of those obnoxious judge programs. All this bickering over a rusty Monte Carlo probably worth a hundred bucks; it has as much value as scrap probably. But even if she could throw the dumbbell that far, there’s a wire screen over the television to protect it.

  She does another curl and then wonders what one of those judges would make of this situation. She can imagine the female Super Squad at one table while the males are at the other. Which cockamamie story would the judge believe?

  So far there has been no evidence to disprove the male squad’s story. The medical tests show they all have the same DNA and blood type as their female counterparts. The impostor Midnight Spectre is even missing his appendix, as Robin is from when it was taken out before her fourteenth birthday. But like everything else, that doesn’t prove he’s the real Midnight Spectre.

  There is one way to verify their cockamamie story: go to Titan to see if there really is a secret prison there. If Starla were still here she could fly out there to do that, but without her there’s no one except Apex Man who could go there. Major Hall is consulting with NASA, but it would take years to get a probe out there and none of the probes in the vicinity have the right equipment for the search. The only way to get one there quickly would be for Apex Man to carry it and how could they verify that he hadn’t tampered with anything?

  Per Hall’s orders the male and female teams haven’t seen each other in the last week. In I Love Lucy style they’ve pretty much divided the base in two with the men staying to one side and the women to the other. It would be easy enough for Allison or Velocity Man to sneak a pee
k on the other side, but Robin doubts this has happened yet. If Allison or Velocity Man do anything it’ll be to run back to Focal City to see Sally Bass and her daughter.

  The one Robin keeps in contact with on the outside is Melanie. They exchange text messages on their phones; Melanie exchanges far more than Robin. From what Robin can tell, Melanie is doing all right in her classes but feeling homesick. That’s no surprise as it’s the first time Melanie’s been away from home longer than overnight since she became a girl. So far no one on campus has given her too much flak, but she supposes it’s only a matter of time.

  Robin tries not to think how much she’d like to be out of here, up at MIT with Melanie. She tries not to think how much she’d like to press her lips to Melanie’s—

  “Something wrong?” Allison asks from the treadmill next to her.

  “No. I’m fine.”

  “I’m sure we’ll get out of here soon.”

  “That’s what you think. They might decide to keep us here until we’re old and gray. Or take us to one of those secret prisons they think we don’t know about.”

  “I’m sure they aren’t going to do that.”

  “And last time they didn’t almost kill us, right?”

  “Storm and Hall aren’t like Dalton.”

  “Says you.”

  A girl about Robin’s age with a private’s insignia comes up to them. “Excuse me,” she says. “Major Hall would like to see you in his office.”

  “Great,” Robin mutters.

  All seven of them assemble in the office again. They’ve given the male Super Squad civilian clothes. It’s surreal for Robin to see herself as a thirty-five-year-old man again. She supposes it must be even more surreal for him to see himself as an eighteen-year-old girl.

  Major Hall leans forward in his chair. “Colonel Storm and I have been talking. There’s nothing to rule out either squad as the genuine article. Much as we might want to keep you all here for further evaluation, we’re under a lot of pressure from the mucky-mucks in Congress and the White House to let you go.”

  “Thank Kate King for that,” Robin mutters.

  “Indeed,” Hall says. “Thanks to all that media coverage, we have no choice but to set you all free.”

  “So what are we supposed to do now?” Allison asks.

  “That’s up to you all to decide. I would encourage you not to use violence.”

  “I think it’s obvious I should be the king of Pacifica again,” Lord Neptune says. “They’ll never accept a girl on the throne.”

  “You can have the throne. Just stay away from my family.”

  “What are we supposed to do about Sally and Jenny?” Allison asks.

  Hall shrugs. “Beats me. I’m not a therapist.”

  “Jenny will want her father back,” Velocity Man says.

  “You’re not her father!”

  “And you are?”

  “Damned right I am.”

  “And you really think Sally is happy as a lesbian?”

  “Shut your goddamned mouth!” Allison shrieks with far more venom than Robin’s heard before.

  “She’ll pick me. You know it.”

  “Then let’s find out.” Allison gets to her feet. “I’ll see you there.”

  They’re both gone from the office in less than a second. Robin doesn’t want to think about how confusing it’s going to be for Sally Bass.

  Hall sighs loudly. Then he looks at Robin and the impostor Rob Holloway. “You two it seems pretty obvious. Robin is supposed to be Rob’s illegitimate daughter and you have plenty of room to spare.”

  Robin crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m not living with him.”

  “Then go get an apartment. Go live with your girlfriend.”

  Robin glares at the impostor. She supposes it would be better for her to stay at the mansion. That way she can keep an eye on him. He’ll slip up at some point and then she can take the evidence to Hall and the others so they can end this charade. “Not a chance, Dad.”

  “Good,” Hall says. “And since Starla vanished, I think it should be easy enough for Stan Shaw to rise from the grave.”

  “That will make Kate King’s day.”

  “Has she been worried about me?” Apex Man asks.

  Robin rolls her eyes. “Why else do you think she’s been harassing Major Hall about this so much? You really think she cares about national security or any of that crap?”

  “Do you have to be so cynical?” Apex Man says. “Kate loves America.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Well, since that’s all squared away, best of luck to you all.”

  “Wait a second,” Robin says. “What happens the next time some army of robots shows up? Which squad are you going to call?”

  “I don’t see any reason we can’t utilize you both,” Hall says. “Seven superheroes is a lot better than four, right?”

  “Yeah, great,” Robin mutters. Then she follows her “father” out of the office.

  ***

  Owing to her smaller, lighter frame, Allison is the first one home. She nearly cries with joy when Sally throws herself against Allison. “Thank God you’re home. I was so worried,” Sally says.

  “It’s all right. Nothing happened.”

  “What about what they’re saying in the newspapers? Is he really back?”

  Before Allison can answer, he shows up at the door. Sally’s face pales as she stares at her husband. “Alan?”

  “Hi, honey.” He moves to kiss her, but she steps back while keeping one arm around Allison’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

  “Daddy!” Jenny squeals. She has no qualms about racing into the man’s arms.

  He gives an exaggerated groan as he lifts her up. “Oh my goodness, you’re getting so big.”

  “Where have you been, Daddy? Mama said you were in Heaven.”

  “No, I wasn’t in Heaven. I was somewhere far, far away. So far away I couldn’t get back until right now.”

  “Are you going to leave again?”

  “Not for a long, long time.” He kisses her on the forehead. It takes every ounce of self-control not to punch him in the face. The government scientists can say what they want, but Allison knows he’s not the real Alan Bass. She was the real Alan Bass and as crazy as it might seem, she’s the one who created Jenny with Sally.

  But she can’t say all this in front of Jenny. All she can do is follow them inside, to the living room. Jenny leans against Alan on one chair while Sally and Allison hold hands on the couch. Allison is relieved that Sally has stuck with her, but for how long? She has to be thinking how nice it would be to have her husband back, to be a traditional family again. As if she can sense Allison’s thoughts, Sally gives her hand a squeeze.

  There isn’t much to talk about until they put Jenny to bed. Alan and Sally put her to bed while Allison watches. Before she falls asleep, Jenny asks, “Daddy, are you gonna be here when I wake up?”

  “Of course I am, sweetie.”

  “You promise?”

  “Cross my heart, hope to die.”

  Jenny nods and then closes her eyes. After they’re sure she’s asleep, they return to the living room. Again Sally and Allison take the couch and hold hands. “I think it’s pretty clear that I’m the one who should stay here,” Alan says. “I’m Jenny’s father.”

  “You say that one more time—”

  Sally puts a hand on Allison’s shoulder. “Hold on. We don’t have to fight. I think it would be best for Alan to stay here. It would traumatize Jenny too much if he leaves now.”

  “And what am I supposed to do?” Allison asks.

  “You can stay here too. She still thinks you’re her aunt.” Sally looks from one to the other of her husbands. “This isn’t a zero-sum game. There’s room for all of us.”

  “What about the sleeping arrangements?” Alan asks.

  “You can stay out here.”

  “You don’t think Jenny will find that suspicious?”

  “I’m sorry, Alan.
Maybe you really are my husband, but Allison and I love each other. She’s the one I’m sharing my bed with.”

  Alan’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t say anything. Allison suggests, “We can move the cot into the bedroom. You can get up in the middle of the night and crash on it.”

  “What if Jenny has a nightmare?”

  “We’ll worry about that later. For tonight let’s give this a try.”

  Alan glares at them, but says, “Fine.”

  Once he’s stomped off, Allison gives Sally a victorious kiss on the mouth. She’s won the first battle, but she knows this isn’t over yet.

  Chapter 11

  Starla likes the thrift shop a lot better than dishwashing. For one thing she doesn’t go home at the end of the day with her whole body feeling like a wet spaghetti noodle. For another it gets her away from Bertha and with far nicer company.

  “Have a pleasant day,” she says to an old lady as she hands over a bag stocked with clothes. It’s easy to fix a smile to her face and maintain it even after the old lady has gone.

  Greta marches into the thrift shop and claps her hands. “I must say, business has been brisk these last few days.”

  “I guess so,” Starla says, though she has no frame of reference to judge that.

  “I keep hearing about this nice young girl who works here, about how pleasant and helpful she is.”

  Starla’s face turns warm. “I’m doing my job.”

  “You shouldn’t be so modest, dear. Most girls your age are so cynical anymore. When I go to the McDonald’s they practically throw my food at me with barely a grunt.”

  “Oh dear.”

  “I never really thought a girl like you could be such a marvel. Honestly I thought you’d have run off with the contents of the register by now. No offense, dear.”

  Starla actually smiles at this. She supposes it would be like a young runaway to rob the store and take off into the night by now. “No offense taken. I’m trying to reward your faith in me.”

  “Well, you’ve certainly done that and more.” Greta claps her hands again. “I’ve got a big surprise for you. The newspaper is sending someone by for an interview.”