Bruce materialized on the Teleporter in the batcave. At the main terminal was three of his
partners. Tim was seated with Dick to
his side and Cassandra to the Tim’s left.
Bruce took notes as he walked over.
Cassandra hand signed that the others were upstairs taking showers while
they were working on what data they had gotten from the message earlier.
“Hay Boss,” Dick said.
“Is Batman there?” a bubbly voice called from the
terminal.
“Focus Topo,” Tim said, “We need to find the black boxes. Ok Boss Batgirl loaded the data from the distress
beacon and those models on the right are running possible Sarajevo Net
models. These on the right are running extrapolation
algorithms from the limited data we got.”
“We got Topo a link set up and got him in first to get us
the Black Box’s data,” Dick said, “I have worked with him before, he is good,
fast and we can count on him.”
Bruce noticed the gestured that he was to be trusted to
keep this a secret.
“I see something…” Topo said, “This is weird… It says
Black Box on the side, but it isn’t a box or black. It’s orange…”
“That’s it,” Tim said, “There should be…”
“Data Export port, I see it,” Topo’s voice bubbled, “Are
you sure this is it? Shouldn’t it be
black?”
“Topo,” Dick said, “It was named that when they first
made them, but after a few crashes they realized black only made it harder to
find, so they changed the color.”
“They should have updated the name when they changed the
color,” Topo muttered, “Commlink attached, opening data like you told me. Opening encrypted channel. Let’s see; copy and transmit data. Send.”
The monitor flashed with the incoming data and Tim saved
it. Dick gestured for Bruce to say
something.
“Good job Topo, we are getting it now. Thank you,” Bruce said in his Batman voice.
Bruce then gestured for Dick to talk to him away from the
comm’s microphone.
“Who is this guy and how much do we trust him,” Bruce
asked.
“It’s Topo, you know the helpful mini Cthulhu?” Dick
said, “He can teleport around the oceans, he helped us out a lot in the Titans,
we can trust him. We told him that
Justice League lost an aircraft in the area and we needed to figure out if
there was a problem, we are sending flyers in to look for survivors but we
needed to find the black boxes right away. Of course the Batman want’s it done
quickly and quietly so we can figure out the problem and deal with it right
away before it become giant mess.”
“Dick!” Topo called, “This isn’t a cargo hauler, it’s a
Javelin!”
“Are you sure about that?” Tim asked.
“Of course I am, I will never forget flying in one that
one time!” Topo mused.
Bruce walked over to the terminal and took the mic.
“You are telling me the downed aircraft is a Javelin?”
Batman asked.
“Yes sir Batman Sir,” Topo responded.
“Very well, keep your eyes open in case you spot any
signs that indicate mechanical failure, structural failure, weather damage, anything,”
Batman said, “We need to know if it is safe for our flyers to look for survivors.”
“I am not expert,” Topo chortled, “But this looks like it
got hit with a flying torpedo.”
“Say again?” Tim asked.
“I play around in the wreck of your warships remember?”
Topo said, “This looks like it got hit with a torpedo right in the front of the
aircraft. I am not an expert of your
flying machines, but I remember that you have flying torpedoes surface dwellers
use in the sky.”
“Are you sure?” Batman asked.
“As sure as I can be,” Topo replied, “I am just a simple
Dissian working for the royal family and their friends. Oh no. I think I found the humans… they are
dead. And this looks like it use to be
the orange box. Sorry.”
“If someone was shooting at the aircraft,” Dick said, “be
careful and get out of there. We will
contact the Royal Family to ask for support and make arrangements.”
“Thanks for letting me help,” Topo said, “And now we are
even Tim.”
“Even?” Batman asked.
“Don’t ask, don’t tell,” Dick smiled.
“Run the data in the playbacks,” Batman stated.
“Oh it boss,” Tim started working.
“Now, anything else you haven’t told me about?” Batman
asked.
“We have him one of the spare Titan coms,” Tim snickered,
“It use to be Olie’s a while back. He
may have lost it when we stopped by his shop one time.”
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Hay B-man,” Steph called as she walked out of the elevator,
“Did the fish find the Black Box?”
“Hay Bruce,” Barbara said, “What’s the word? Uh-oh death glare.”
“Where is Damian?” Bruce asked.
“Ah, tied up at the moment?” Dick said.
Bruce shot a death glare at his understudy.
“Yeah,” Dick said, “He is hanging in his closet after
attacking Tim and Steph when they wouldn’t bow down to his Divine nature as
your biological child.”
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.
*
The pair flew into the Fortress of Solitude. Kara had been warned about what to expect and
that they were coming… but still she felt an anxiety at the meeting. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the
archway into the lighted atrium.
“Hello,” Kara Zor-El addressed her doppelganger…