Personal Business Chapter 8
The Flash and the Martian Manhunter were the only ones on the command deck of the Watchtower. Since it was so quiet lately, they had fallen into the habit of playing their favorite game, Battlin’ ‘Bots, while on duty together. The Watchtower’s sensors would give them plenty of time to react to anything that might come up.
“Aww, man, you knocked my block off again! I’m the fastest man alive, J’onn, how do you keep beating me?”
Jo’nn smiled. “It does not matter how fast you are, Wally. The mechanics of the game will only go so fast. As I have told you before, it is a matter of timing, not speed.”
“Well, that’s not—“
A series of short beeps sounded at the console and the two heroes moved quickly to see what was was approaching. At this point, almost anything going on would be interesting.
“Scanners indicate a small cruiser of Almeracian design. There is no ion trail, so the engines are off. Let us see what is going on. Flash, you have the comm duty, so..”
“Cool!” He grabbed the communications microphone. There was no need for this, as there was a mic built into the console, but Flash always insisted on using the hand-held one instead. When really bored, he used the microphone to pretend he was a dj. It was really annoying to anyone who happened to have duty with him, which was another reason that Flash enjoyed it.
“Attention, all ships at sea! This is your Captain Kirk, speaking. Identify yourself immediately or we’ll fire up the photon tubes.”
The response from the ship contained some static, but the irritated female voice could be heard plainly enough. “Flash, you loud-mouthed oaf. This is Maxima. I have some engine trouble. Superman has found us and is pushing me towards your hangar bays. My fleet is too far away to give assistance and I’ll need to dock so you can repair my craft. You get one of those doors opened immediately or—“
“Maxie! What’s a gorgeous girl like you doing in a space like this?”
The icy reply was immediate. “Is there anyone on duty with you that has a functioning brain, Flash?”
“Maxima, this is J’onn. Hangar 3 is opening now.”
“Thank you, J’onn. We will begin emergency docking procedure immediately. Maxima out”
Flash was pouting. “You never let me have any fun.” Another thought brightened his face for a moment. “But, at least I get to see Maxi.”
Jo’nn, however, was shaking his head. “You need to run up and tell Wonder Woman that Superman has finally returned. Then, you need to get back here and monitor communications while I meet them at the hangar. Remember, you have communications duty today.”
“Aww, man, that is so unfair!” I hate comm duty!” With that, Flash was gone, off to tell Diana the news. Ninety seconds later, Flash was back. “Well, I told her.”
“Is she coming down?”
“Haha. Funny, J’onn. She hasn’t seen him for a month. She’s playing it off like she doesn’t care, but she almost beat me out the door.”
“You did tell Diana that Maxima was with him, didn’t you?”
The grin on Flash’s face told him all he needed to know, and his heart sank. “Don’t you like surprises, J’onn?”
The Manhunter walked out of the command deck, his sense of foreboding weighing heavily on him. This is not going to go well, It could be worse. I could have sent Wally to meet them. J’onn shuddered at the thought as he approached the hangars..
J’onn walked past Wonder Woman as she stood on the walkway on the farthest end of Hangar 3. He didn’t need any other sense than sight to see that she was confused. She expected just Superman and the ship was a puzzle. Resisting the urge to tell Diana exactly what was going on, he kept on walking towards the ship that Superman was now setting down. He was only here to greet Superman and the visitor. That was all. I am not getting involved in this.
Superman opened the door to the spacecraft and Maxima’s bodyguard filed out passed him. Finally, Maxima herself debarked, looking radiant in her green and yellow outfit, her dark red hair carelessly cascading over her back and shoulders. She stopped in front of Superman, reached up and pulled his head down to hers and kissed him thoroughly before he could pull away.
“Thank you, Kal. Thank you for a wonderful time. Thank you for everything.” As she winked at the Man of Steel, J’onn noticed two things. One; Out of the corner of his eye he could see Diana turn on her heel and stalk off. Two; Superman standing there completely befuddled by Maxima’s actions. I knew this wasn’t going to go well. Might as well get my part over with. Never thought I would be anxious to get back to see Wally!
“Welcome back Superman. It is good to see that you are well. I hope that your vacation was a pleasant one? Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Thanks, J’onn. Good to be back. No, I won’t need anything.” He was staring past J’onn and watching the retreating figure of Diana. He hated being abrupt with J’onn, but seeing this scene with Maxima through Diana’s eyes, he knew he was in trouble. It was ridiculous. Diana knew how he stood with Maxima. The powerful princess from distant Almerac had wanted him as her consort some time ago and went to great lenghths to secure him. The more he resisted, the more she was determined to have him. Eventually, Maxima was forced to give up and took another consort instead. That was old news and Diana knew all of this already. What he didn’t understand was why Maxima was playing this up like she was. She had seen Diana watching and was deliberately provoking her. For what purpose, he had no idea. Well, he meant to talk to Diana later anyway, and he would clear things up then. He had other things that needed clearing up between them too, but this issue would have to be dealt with first.
J’onn was speaking to Maxima. “We have quarters ready for you and your guard. Please follow the server robot and it will guide you.” It will guide you as far from Wonder Woman’s quarters as possible. He was aware that Diana and Maxima didn’t like each other. To be completely honest, they detested each other for reasons J’onn could not begin to guess at. All he knew was that Superman had instructed him explicitly that they not be on the roster at the same time. If that could not be avoided, by no means were they to be assigned to be in the same areas at the same time. It wasn’t difficult for J’onn because Maxima was rarely ever on the roster anyway.
Maxima turned to Superman again and said a little more loudly than necessary; “Please make sure you come to my quarters and see me before I go. As you know, I go after what I want, and I the most prized male in the galaxy: You.” J’onn could see Diana lurch to a halt. After a slow count of three, she continued on her way out of the hangar bay.
Almerac’s princess smiled sweetly as she and her guards followed the server bot out the side entrance of the hangar, turned a corner and were gone. J’onn looked a question at Superman, but he merely shrugged. “I don’t know what’s going on either, but I do know that I need a shower. It’s been a long trip.”
An hour later, a more refreshed Superman came up to the command deck looking for J’onn. He found the Martian Manhunter just staring off into space. The Flash had gone out for snacks—again.
“I take it that things have been quiet Jo’nn, or you would have already told me. So…do you have any idea where Wonder Woman is? I need to speak with her and she is not in her quarters.”
“She is not onboard the station, Superman. I do not know where she went..” J’onn debated on whether to tell him that he was the second person who had asked that in the last hour, but wisely decided to not get involved, even to that extent.
“Thanks, J’onn. I’ll be off station myself for awhile. If anything comes up, just---No, on second thought, I’ll be unavailable for the rest of the day. I’ll check in again tomorrow.”
“Very well, Superman. As you said, it has been quiet so I do not forsee a problem.”
Kal thought about it for a moment. Diana was upset and she wasn’t on the station. Where would she go? It wasn’t difficult to figure out. He flew towards Earth. Going to that island is becoming a habit. If everything worked out as he hoped with Diana, he might as well get used to it.
