Earth:

He stopped in front of a door, raising his hand to lay his palm flat against a touchpad. The computer identified his palmprint and then scanned him with top-of-the-line medical equipment. It queried him 6 different languages, and for each he gave the proper keywords. At the end, it developed a security simulation and offered it to him as a scenario. He had exactly three minutes to break the system, or the high-powered lasers mounted in the ceiling and walls would open fire. It was not foolproof. He was constantly updating this system.

He broke through the security problem with thirty-two seconds to spare.

As the door hissed shut behind him, the lasers burst into action. Criss-crossing beams of light wound through the corridor. Nothing larger than a fly could get through them. And the door itself was protected by a security field, So there was no way the fly could get past it.

He loosened the clasp of his collar as he sat down in his chair. His image was reflected off the computer screen before him. He was an older man, perhaps in his late thirties. His short hair was just starting to show a few strands of gray, here and there. Otherwise it was a deep brown. His face was lined but not wrinkled. Medium build, but he was obviously in good shape, and he moved with a grim purpose. The set of his mouth was forbidding. All in all, he looked like someone's uncle.

Except for his eyes.

His eyes were black, and colder than space.

“Program: Initiate.”

The computer screen whirred to life and streams of symbols flowed across it. He watched it impassively. At a precise moment, he said, “Program: Halt. Keyword: Heist. Program: Execute.”

From Winath, a computer terminal whirred to life in a government building. It was nighttime and there was no one present to see it. They couldn't have stopped the program if they had been there. The computer ran through its predetermined course and was silent, after sending out a signal. The signal bounced through no less than thirty-five relays before reaching McCauley Enterprises.

The man watched numbers and symbols scroll across his screen. At this point it wasn't necessary; his program was running smoothly. But he watched, and ruthlessly crushed the pride that tried feebly to well inside him. Pride would only make him weak.

Weakness was unacceptable.

An aide woke McCauley the next morning in a panic.

Billions of credits were lost without a trace. Not even Evolvo Lad had been able to track how the theft had occurred or where the money was now. It didn't even seem to be showing up in surplus in the datalinks somewhere else. No bank transactions, unusual purchases, or anything.

Somewhere on Earth, a man smiled.

Had anyone been present to see him, it would have been noted his smile was colder than his eyes.

Words were whispered in his lab.

“Program: Initiate.”

  Legion HQ:

They gathered in the Legion briefing room. Saturn Girl waited until everyone had taken his or her seats and the roll officially entered before speaking.

“We received word yesterday that McCauley Enterprises has been the target of a substantial theft. Your omnicoms have the uploaded data on exactly how much was stolen,” the blonde girl began. Ultra Boy whistled as he read the amount, and most of the assembled Legionnaires looked stunned. “As of this time, no-one has yet been able to track how the theft was accomplished.

“The logical assumption, of course, is that the theft was done by computer. Too many holdings were hit simultaneously for it to have been a physical heist.”

Everyone turned to look at Brainiac 5.1.

“I guess that means I'm supposed to look into it?”

  Somewhere on Earth:

He queried his computers and the smile never his face.

Beyond McCauley Enterprises he had liquidated two planetary governments of their funds. The credits disappeared into the void as if they'd never been. Within hours riots began. Order crumbled in their wake.

He turned his thoughts towards Colu. Like a surgeon, his hands played over his input screens, manipulating delicate flows of code. It was all part of a larger design.

However, other matters needed to be attended even as certain programs ran to their completion. He turned to a specific monitor. “Program: Halt. Keyword: Politics. Program: Initiate.”

Twenty-nine relays, six sentient carriers (none of whom realized what, exactly, they were delivering via spaceship) and seventeen days later the governments of Athram, Cargg, and Xanthu were subjected to a sudden media blitz as portions of the stolen funds were discovered to be lurking in their Treasuries. Official protests and declarations of innocence were lodged with the United Planets and the Affiliated Planets. McCauley’s lawyers descended on the planets like a swarm. U.P. officials representing the interests of the governments of Kathoon and Phlon arrived only a day following McCauley’s people.

In an unremarkable restaurant, the instigator of so much chaos ate a simple meal paid for with credits earned from his job as a filing clerk. His black and silver coat was slung over the back of his chair. Overhead a vidscreen displayed news reports for the patrons while they ate.

He smiled at the waitress when she came to check on him.

She shivered, and stayed away from his table as much as possible after that.

  Legion HQ, Saturn Girl's Quarters:

A chime sounded on her vidscreen. Toweling her hair dry and checking that her robe was in place, she answered it with a, “Yes?”

Brainiac 5.1’s green visage answered her. “I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

“What's the good?”

“Our culprit is a man named Kerr Avon.”

Imra sat down in a chair at her desk. “A start then. What else do we know about him?”

“That's the bad news. Assemble the team and I'll give a briefing.”

  Legion HQ, Briefing Room:

“He looks like someone's uncle,” said Apparition, as everyone took in the sight of the man named Kerr Avon.

“It's hard to believe one man is responsible for this amount of furor, Brainy,” added Triad. “He's not even Coluan.” Invisible Kid bristled at her.

“There are other scientists with skill, Triad,” he told her.

“I didn't say that, Lyle. I'm just saying this is an awful lot for one man to be causing by himself. You're the one who took it personally.”

“I didn't--"

“Calm down, both of you.” Imra’s voice cut through the blossoming argument like a scalpel. “Go on, Brainy.”

“Right,” he said. “Avon is one of humanity's geniuses. He might even approach me in mental ability. I'm trying to get more data from Colu on his exact capabilities but the sleepnet isn't accessible yet. However, what I already know gives us quite a bit to work on.

“He was accepted into the premier academy on Colu at the age of fourteen. He was jumped to the head of the waiting list ahead of candidates who had been waiting for years to attend. His specialty is computers. When I say this is his specialty, I mean it. Nearly every recent computer has processors that incorporate his designs. And his software programs are unbelievable. In fact, to graduate, he broke into the University's computers and stole the tests. Only nineteen other individuals have managed that feat. Five of them are of the Brainiac line. He is the only non-Coluan.

“At this point I would surmise his plans extend back at least as far as his graduation. I say this because either he has a small army of computer technicians working for him on multiple planets with as much skill as he has, or he has laid computer programs into dummy programs throughout the U.P. and A.P., which he is only now beginning to activate. The second is the most likely. He is rumored to be something of a loner. I heard of him while at the University but most of his career since Colu I haven't paid much attention to. Last I knew he was working at one of Earths research institutes, but I commed them and they said he left five years ago. None of the other major scientific institutes here have a record of him working there currently. I'm still waiting for off-world sources to report in.”

“Okay, he's smart,” Live Wire said. “But all we have to do is find him and nab him.”

Brainy sighed. “He's a lot more than smart, Live Wire. But that's not quite the worst of it.”

“Oh?” asked Sensor.

The green-skinned youth tapped his datapad and a holo appeared. Several of his teammates gasped.

“He served an internship under my mother,” Brainiac 5.1 said grimly.

  Legion HQ, Brainiac 5.1's Lab:

Symbols and numbers flowed across the screens as Querl made modifications to his equipment. Lyle Norg was with him, helping to upgrade the security systems. They really should have been searching the datalinks for any hint of a trail leading back to Avon but it had been decided the Headquarters needed to be fortified first.

Brainy still wasn't completely sure it was Avon, but that was the only guess to go on. The only other people capable of pulling this off were himself and his mother.

He didn't like to think about that.

Lyle poked his head up from under a computer. "Tell Chuck I'm on my way to help with the wiring, Brainy," he said, sliding out into the room and heading for the door. "You've got the main systems upgraded in the software; we'll go handle the more physical side."

The green-skinned scientist nodded. "I'll get right on it."

He picked up a cable interface and attached it to a control disk on his forehead.

  Somewhere on Earth:

Avon tapped a monitor on and took in the most recent data. So far no-one had announced who was behind the theft. He wondered if the Science Police had any suspects.

If they did, it wouldn't be for long.

"Program: Halt. Keyword: Police. Program: Execute."

It took forty-seven relays and sixteen separate sentient carriers before this virus was inserted into the system, made whole from component bits of code scattered throughout known space. It launched itself from one of Brande's businesses. Once in the datastreams it replicated itself a thousand times over. Then the copies shot off into the flow towards their destination.

He smiled again, and watched the data scroll on his screens.

  Science Police Headquarters, Earth:

Officer Shvaughn Erin leaned forward in her chair as her screen went blank, losing the report on the recent theft she'd been compiling. "Wha--?" she asked the air, then turned around. Several other officers had started to tap their control panels as if it would bring the information back to life.

Then the power went off.

She bit back a curse.

  Datastreams:

"Grife!"

What Brainiac 5.1 thought of as 'himself' when he accessed the computer datalinks directly swore, uncharacteristic of him and yet completely appropriate. A virus that looked like one of the demons from earth legends went streaming past him.

Fortunately, he wasn't the target.

Unfortunately, he knew something had to be.

He activated his force field. It wasn't a real force field here but protective programs and code. Of course, it acted like a force field and one needed a way to mentally access the computer information around him, even if he did have a twelfth-level intelligence.

He took off after it.

  Monitor Room, Legion HQ:

Spark answered the latest incoming message, keying up a second screen to inform Saturn Girl. "It looks as if half the Science Police outposts are without power, and all of them lost access to their databanks," she told the Legion's leader.

Imra sighed. "Any word from Brainy on a lead?"

The vidscreen split in half and Brainiac 5.1's face appeared in it. "This one of my twelve thought-tracks," he said. "I'm monitoring Legion HQ from inside the computer right now. The rest of me is chasing down one of the viruses. It looks quite nasty. When I catch it I'll let you know. Tell Lyle to prepare a clean computer for me. I don't want to bring this into Legion systems if I don't have to." His image started to fade out.

"That answers that question," Imra said. "Keep me informed, Spark." The screen went blank.

"Of course, Imra," Spark said to the empty screen.

  Legion HQ, Cafeteria:

A screen blinked on above the counter near Tenzil's head. "Tenzil, before I forget, make certain someone brings me food approximately every four or five hours. Thanks," Brainy said, and was gone again.

Tenzil scratched his head. "They're playing around with the computer again. I can tell."

  Somewhere on Earth:

He clipped the black and silver jacket shut and pulled on the cuffs. Checking himself in the mirror, he smoothed his hair down before nodding once and heading out the door. At the door he stopped and told the lab, "Program: Halt. Keyword: Weather. Program: Initiate."

Then he went to work.

The door hissed shut behind him.

The force shield snapped into place.

He entered into an air duct and came up into his real living room. Avon walked out the door into his apartment hallway. He genially greeted one of his neighbors, also on the way to work.

And more of his code flowed into the datastream.

  Winath:

Explosions rocked the sky as the weather satellites, no longer under their original programming, wracked the planet below with lightning and hail.

Crops began to die under the assault.

Winath's President commed the Legion.

The other agricultural worlds were doing the same.

  Datastreams:

Brainiac 5.1 gingerly snapped protective code around the lone virus he was tracking. It ate through the programs with the speed only a computer could generate. Each time he threw up another layer of code the thing ate through one further in. He was slowing it down, though. He disengaged a thought-track, sacrificing some of his speed in containing the virus, and started designing one of his own. Something that looked tasty.

He threw his virus at it.

Avon's virus ate it without hesitation. It had behaved like another shielding program.

"Gotcha," Brainy said.

His perceptions suddenly exploded.

  Legion HQ, Brainiac 5.1's Lab:

Someone was screaming.

He didn't have the facility to realize it was himself.

  Winath:

Live Wire grunted as he deflected another blast of lighting from one of the overhead weather satellites, sending the energy crackling back into the machine. Mon-El was simply smashing straight through them. On other worlds, they knew other Legionnaires were doing the same.

Meanwhile, Gates and Leviathan were positioning new satellites shipped in via Legion Cruiser. There were no guarantees that these would fair any better.

Then again, they had to do something. Without the agricultural planets too many worlds would starve.

  Datalinks:

Brainy threw up everything he had in the way of protective code as the virus exploded. A good part of the initial 'blast' got through to him and he screamed. Bits of code seemed to slice into his shields as if searching for weaknesses even though the virus itself was destroyed. Each bit of code that got past felt like a knife cutting into him. Gritting his teeth, he tried to capture at least part of the virus before it was completely destroyed.

  Legion HQ, Brainiac 5.1's Lab:

Invisible Kid grimaced as his hands flew over the datapads, trying to shut down the flow of information from the datalinks to Brainy. Whatever had him, had him good. Burns seemed to be spreading from around his control disks and Lyle was worried. Eventually he managed to shunt most of the incoming data into the Legion security systems. Then, taking a gamble, he reached up and yanked the cable from Brainy's head.

There was a sizzle and a pop as the cable came free.

The blonde scientist looked up with a scowl. "I almost had it!"

"You need to get to medbay, Brainy. You're hurt."

Querl's hands touched several keys on his console. "Did you bring the clean computer?"

"I did, but--" Lyle broke off seeing the expression on the other Legionnaire's face. He let the cable drop. "Console 28-a7. I cleaned it of all links except one to outside. Anything you put into it can be contained there. And once you put whatever you caught into it, you are going to get treatment for the burns."

"Burns?" Brainy reached up to touch his forehead and yelped, pulling his hand away from the damaged skin. "I'm hurt!"

Invisible Kid almost rolled his eyes. "C'mon."

"Wait." Brainy fingered the console again, sending out a series of commands. After a moment he stood. "There. It's in the computer and the last outside link is cut." He moved across the room and paused at the door. "Aren't you taking me to medbay?" he asked as the door hissed open.

Lyle sighed. "'Thanks for helping me, Lyle,'" he muttered under his breath.

  Legion HQ, Medbay:

Brainiac 5.1 slept soundly as Dr. Gym'll grafted new skin around the control disks on the boy's forehead. Imra and Lyle stood by the doorway, watching.

"Dr. Gym'll wants him off-duty for a day while his new skin takes," Lyle commented, arms crossed over his chest.

The blonde telepath nodded in response. "Can you handle what he was doing if we take him off-duty?"

Lyle sighed. "Some of it, yes. His information gathering, without a problem. Some of the security problems too." Some things it didn't take a twelfth-level intelligence to handle. "Unfortunately, I took a look at the virus he captured before coming up here. I'm glad he asked for a clean computer. It seems to be in pieces and it's still trying to take over the system it is in."

"Which means?"

"Which means some of it, I can't. I can't access the computers like he can. And I don't think I could have caught that virus," Lyle answered honestly.

Imra nodded again. "Okay. He stays on duty. But I want someone in his lab with him at all times, just in case."

Brainiac abruptly sat up on the operating table. "That's a luxury we won't have, unless you sit Chuck with me," he told Imra. "I just got word from the Sleepnet on what Avon was doing just after he left the Computer Research Facility on Earth five years ago.

"He was a security consultant - and did the last upgrade two years ago--for Takron-Galtos."

  Somewhere on Earth:

"Program: Halt. Keyword: Prison. Program: Initiate."

  Takron-Galtros:

Dalien chomped idly on a piece of electrical tubing as she headed for the main security booth, carrying her latest acquisition. The Bizmollian keyed in her code at the booth door and waited while her files were checked. Once inside she grinned a cheery smile at Gft'Dql, whose name no one had yet managed to pronounce properly. Even he had trouble, since his parents had moved from his native planet when he was very young.

"Didja get it?" he asked her after checking that the Lt. was not around.

She held up a small disk. "Did I ever," she answered. "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Edition 401, before it's on the market. Keria at Games, Co. came through yet again. Always nice to have classmates in high places. You up to getting yer ranger's butt kicked?"

"Load it in and we'll see whose butt gets kicked."

She fed the disk into one of the consoles. The power usage was minimal and really, there was hardly ever anything to monitor on station. Prisoners stayed in their cells, or surrounded by very heavily armed guards with permission to kill if inmates attempted escape. Who would care a couple privates spent some on-duty time playing games?

The holo-projections of their characters appeared in mid-air. Avon's commands silently swept into the system.

  Earth, Legion HQ:

::Ayla, gather up, we're going to Takron-Galtros.:: Saturn Girl's telepathy reached out to both the Legionnaires in HQ and those out on earth on off duty, calling each one back in. Brainy was back in his Lab already, searching through the datalinks. She rounded a corner as she adjusted her carryall on her shoulder and almost walked into Dreamer, who gave a startled, "Ah!"

"Excuse me, Dreamer, Legion business--"

"Oh, I know, but I have to tell you, you can't go. You'll be needed here."

Saturn Girl paused, irritation showing on her face. "I'm needed here?"

"Mm-hmm. Although why is a little fuzzy."

"Of course. Are you--"

"Sure? Of course I am. Do you think I would interrupt you if I wasn't?" Dreamer flashed that lovely smile of hers.

"You mean to say you knew--"

"That you would be in this corridor? Of course!"

Imra let the carryall slide off her shoulder. "Is there--"

"Anyone else who is supposed to stay?"

  Metropolis, Public Library:

Officer Erin sighed as the library terminal brought up the 900th Kerr Avon listing, also without holo-image or flat-screen photo. What did he do, she wondered, erase all the pictures of one-third of the Avons on this planet? And why not erase all of the information entirely?

No sooner had she thought that than the screen under her fingertips went blank. When it came back on, she couldn't find a Kerr Avon listed anywhere in the public records, either. And the Science Police records were still off-line.

She bit back another curse, but it was becoming a good deal more difficult to keep her calm.

After taking a deep breath the red-headed woman stood and left for her cruiser. She set her destination for Legion HQ. Best if she delivered the little information she had gathered in person. Before something else went wrong.

  Somewhere on Earth:

A vid-screen came to life in his lab, showing footage of the Legion Ship heading for off-planet. If he'd calculated correctly, everyone should be heading to Takron-Galtros, leaving Earth undefended.

The cold smile deepened.

  Takron-Galtros:

They didn't notice the security locks fail.

They didn't notice the confusion on the prisoners' faces, before the realization.

They couldn't help but hear the screams.

Dalien keyed off the dungeon scenario and frantically leapt for her duty station. She tried several combinations but nothing seemed to be responding. "What the nass happened?" she cried out, punching keys in frustration.

Warning klaxons started sounding and lights started flashing. Gft'Dql sighed in relief as at least something worked properly. Dalien grabbed up one of the intercoms and sent out an alert over the Science Police headsets. Then she yanked the cover off the panel of her station and started pulling circuits.

Gft'Dql was contacting the Legion just as the Lt. arrived in the security booth. Saturn Girl's face looked grimly out on the Science Police officers from the main vid-screen. "We are aware of the situation, Officer Gft'Dql, and actually we already dispatched a Legion Cruiser before we received this com. We're pulling members from some of the agricultural worlds, too. Hopefully they will get there before the main team arrives. Hold tight. The Legion is coming."

"Thank Grife," murmured Dalien from inside her station's wiring.

The door flew open and another Officer breathlessly snapped to attention. "Captain's been alerted, sir, and dammit all the nass, the prisoners have gotten into munitions locker forty-three," he said, trying to report as calmly as possible.

"How long till the Legionnaires arrive?"

Gft'Dql checked over Saturn Girl's transmission and sighed. "Another day, at their speed. Although some of the others might get here sooner, she says, from the agricultural worlds."

The Lt. nodded, his purple face calm despite his concerns. "Let us pray that they do." He took a breath, and then, "Well, what are you standing there for? Wake up the engineers, and get 'em working on the system already! Get me the commanders and let's get this station locked down again! We have work to do, people!"

  Somewhere on Earth:

"Program: Heist. Keyword: Orac. Program: Initiate."

  Takron-Galtros:

Mon-El was slammed through a bulkhead.

Shaking his head slightly, the Daxamite picked himself off the floor and launched back at the Daxamite who'd thrown him. All around him he could pick out signs of the fighting, Legionnaires against inmates, with Science Police uniforms here and there. It was some kind of madhouse in here, and it was made worse by the powers everyone kept throwing around. A stray bolt of ice came flying towards him and he swerved out of its way, giving his Daxamite pal an unfortunate amount of time to turn his attentions elsewhere. Mon-El swooped down and plucked up one of the inmates who was unconscious and deposited the woman with a Science Police officer before heading back into the fray.

Tinya Wazzo phased up through the floor and looked around. Not here either. She starting flying through the riots, looking for her prey. That woman had to be here somewhere... Aha!

"Hey, Empress! Don't you want a real challenge?" she called out.

The Empress looked up from the latest corpse with a feral gleam in her eyes, which deepened when she saw the Bgztlian teen. "A challenge. There are over 300 ways to kill a Bgztlian, little one."

"Only if you can get me to be tangible," Apparition shot back. "And frankly, I don't think you stand a chance."

The Empress leapt for her.

Tinya started to laugh as the woman flew right through her.

"Have to do better than that, you know," she taunted, knowing each moment she kept the Empress distracted was another moment for a different Legionnaire to arrive and hopefully put the dangerous woman out of action.

Kinetix gestured, green energy swirling out and catching hold of the weapons several prisoners had gotten their hands on. One by one each weapon turned into shackles around the inmates' wrists. On the other side of the mob of prisoners, Element Lad was transmuting the blasters into harmless metals.

On a different level of the station entirely, Sensor held several prisoners in the illusion of their cells, while XS dashed about putting the binders on them all.

  Colu:

It took an incredible amount of pent-up hostility, but Jovan managed to stay out of the Sleepnet cycle. He'd received the pre-arranged signal and knew he had only a limited amount of time in which to work. The door finally slid open and he slipped into the empty lab.

She would appreciate his gesture.

He knew she would.

  Datalinks:

Brainiac 5.1 sighed in frustration and floated, resting his head in his hands. He kept running into breaks in the data trails which he surmised meant parts of the command sets or the viruses were not only being transmitted through the datalinks but also by sentient beings, probably carried on datachips. His mind raced, trying to figure out how the man had managed to arrange for human carriers. Did they know what they were doing? And if they didn't, how did he get the information to them? His connections must be amazing.

Connections...

Brainy sent his thought-tracks out like the older ferret programs from the early internet, looking for employment lists of where Avon had worked in the past several years. Other parts of him tracked down the passenger lists for the dates on the planets which had undergone attacks. There had to be correlations somewhere.

He'd find them.

He had to find a way to trace these paths back to Avon.

  Legion HQ:

Shvaughn Erin stared at Brainiac 5.1 for a long moment. A cable trailed from the teenager's forehead and he otherwise looked asleep. "He's in the datalinks right now?" she asked doubtfully of Lyle, who nodded.

"He left one of his thought-tracks monitoring the headquarters, he said. Just slip the chip in and upload it to the legion databanks. He'll see it."

Officer Erin had seen a lot of odd things during her time as Liaison Officer, but this was definitely up there. She took a breath. "All right," she answered, and slotted in the chip.

There was a brief moment while she and Invisible Kid shared a glance, and then one of the screens burst into life. "Thank you, this was exactly what I was needing," Brainy's visage told the pair. "Lyle, how soon is your team ready to go?"

"You know where he is?" Lyle leaned forward.

"Almost. I know he's on Earth. I'm narrowing down our options right now."

The screen blanked out.

"I'd better tell Saturn Girl."

  Somewhere on Earth:

Avon left for work again, like he did every morning, giving no sign that the things going wrong in the galaxy were at his commands.

  Takron-Galtros:

Tinya resisted the urge to stick out her tongue at the Empress, then giggled and did it anyway. Her adversary growled deeply, still trying to figure out a way to startle the girl into turning tangible. Apparition had give up a few chances to strike at her in order to stay untouchable; the Empress didn't understand how the girl could hold herself back from attack. She couldn't be here just to tease--

"NASS!" The Empress shouted, figuring it out just as Ultra Boy slammed into her without warning, having snuck up during Apparition's distraction. The Empress fell to the floor unconscious and Tinya cheered for her husband.

"A good thing you came along this hallway from behind her, lover," she cooed to Jo, who looked as if he wasn't sure the Empress was really out of the fight.

"I thought you were on Earth, Angel," he answered as he scooped up the woman to take to a cell.

"I am. I'm using the anywhere machine. You think I'd let you go off into this on your own?"

"Well--"

:Tinya. Brainy's onto something. We have to get ready.: The voice floated to her from a distance and she realized Lyle was talking to her. With a sigh she gave her husband an intangible kiss and then turned off the machine.

"Has he found him?"

"He thinks so." Lyle smiled grimly. "And so it's time for the Legion Espionage Squad to get to work."

  R.C.C., A Subsidiary of Brande Enterprises, Earth:

The young woman sat down in her new chair and gazed at her image in her vid-screen and fixed her hair before turning a smile on her neighbor. "Hi! I'm Louise! I'm new here," she introduced herself, holding out her hand.

Avon smiled coldly. "I never would have guessed."

She withdrew her hand slowly, suddenly uncertain of herself. "And well, I'm new," she repeated.

"I'm sure."

Louise mustered up her courage for one last attempt. "And you are?"

"Busy."

The brown-haired woman turned defeated orange eyes to her screen and started her new job with considerably less enthusiasm than when she walked in the door this morning.

  Takron-Galtros Space:

There is no sound in space, so when the S.P. Cruiser slammed through Thunder on the way out of the system, the silence of the impact was somehow more disturbing than the impact itself. She had been rounding up escape pods containing those inmates foolish enough to think they could get somewhere in the little lifeboats, and hadn't seen the ship coming. The first warning was when the small, fleet cruiser hit her.

Monstress flew over to the now spinning girl in a rush, catching the unconscious heroine before she drifted too far from the station's area of space. "Thunder? Are you all right, dear?" she asked but got no response. She looked up to see Kid Quantum level a bolt of energy after the retreating ship, to no avail.

"I hope those were just very bad Science Police pilots, and not an actual criminal," she told Monstress as they entered the prison station with Thunder. Cosmic Boy was towing in pods using his magnetism and the two female Legionnaires took off in search of the station infirmary.

  Earth, New London:

Louise shrugged into her jacket, looked around for a moment, then twisted her ring back onto her finger. "He's left, the building, Triad; you see him yet?"

"Found him, sister. Ooh, I like the basic black."

Orange rolled her eyes over her sister. "Just keep watch on him and don't lose him!"

"How could I? For such an old man the synthetic leather is yummy."

Great, Orange thought to herself as she left the building and looked for a place to wait while her sisters trailed Avon to his home. She's now rating our villain's fashion sense.

  Datalinks:

Brainiac 5.1 paused in a clear center of what appeared to his mental eye as jagged, twisting security measures. His small circle of clear space was protected by his own code but now he was finding it more difficult to get inside the system. He was beginning to think Avon's computers weren't anything other than security precautions. The man was clearly paranoid to an extreme.

There. He spotted another potential weakness in the code and with the precision of a doctor he tweaked the logarithms until it opened for him. Countermeasures disappeared around him and the data shone forth like a beacon.

And I'm definitely not a moth, he told himself silently as he moved straight past it. After everything else that's been in here, I'm not going for the easy target. Instead, he started burrowing through the code into deeper layers.

Somewhere in here were the programs that activated Avon's viruses.

He just had to find them and disable them.

  New London, Earth:

Avon loosened the clasp on his collar and touched the datapads before him, smiling as they whirred gently into life under his fingertips. Then he frowned suddenly and leaned forward to peer at his screen, his face growing colder as he read the upload.

"Well, well. You are your mother's son, aren't you," he whispered. Then, more loudly, "Keyword: Escape. Program: Initiate." He glanced at the chrono on his wrist. In six hours his flight would leave. "Program: Halt. Keyword: Environment. Program: Initiate in mark ten point zero zero hours. Program: Destroy. Keyword: Data. Program: Initiate in mark ten point ten zero hours."

There. That would start off a nice catastrophe on Earth to delay the initial hunt for him, assuming one would be coming. And it would destroy all the data in his computers, so he couldn't be traced from this location.

Now to deal with the child infiltrating his database. It wouldn't do to have that data discovered before it was destroyed.

His fingers flew over the datapads as he crafted his attack.

  New London, Earth:

Lyle connected the last wire and stood up as the door slid open. "There we go." Triad, Apparition, Chameleon, Leviathan and he entered. Saturn Girl was staying at least one step 'behind' them, since it had been decided the Espionage Squad should lead the way in capturing Avon. They still weren't even sure why Imra would be needed here, since nothing indicated Avon would be dangerous beyond what his computer systems could do.

Apparition floated in the small, cramped living room of the apartment. "I just checked the sleeping room and the bathroom. There's no sign of him anywhere. Are you sure he came in here?"

"Positive," Chameleon answered. "I've been a small fly watching him since he entered this apartment complex."

"Here," Invisible Kid motioned them to the air duct. "Look at the scuff marks. He's been crawling through the air ducts to somewhere, I bet." He reached up to pull off the cover and yelped, yanking his hands back. "It's wired! And hot. Yeowch."

"Let me," said Violet, shrinking before their eyes. She flew up to the grating and through the slits, locating the sensors inside and disabled them quickly. "It's safe now," she called back to them. "I'm going to scout ahead."

"No, let Apparition do that. She can phase through anything that would hurt us."

Tinya grinned and climbed up into the air duct once they'd pried the cover off, and took point through the rather narrow passage. "It's easy to tell where he's been from the scuff patterns in here. Not too many people use air ducts for transport."

"Who'd want to?" whispered Triad as she merged into herself. "Gross."

As they disappeared into the air duct Saturn Girl entered the apartment and let the door shut behind her, feeling just a touch out of place on this particular team.

  Datalinks:

It was becoming child's play.

Avon 'tossed' off another set of leech programs at the data-representation of Brainiac 5.1 and queued up a set of low-level viruses to be released. He could keep doing this all day long and the Legionnaire couldn't stop him. After all, Avon didn't care if his viruses got loose or not--all he cared about was distracting or delaying Brainiac long enough to stop him. Brainiac, on the other hand, had to not only fight off the normal countermeasures, but also stop anything additional Avon threw his way, and his sense of responsibility kept him going after the destructive programs meant for the outside world as well.

As usual, a perfectly intelligent, rational being undermined by morality. Avon almost pitied him.

Brainiac 5.1 gritted his teeth and yanked his consciousness completely away from the Legion Headquarters. He'd never expected Avon to be so adept at fighting through code at this level. Avon couldn't be accessing the datalinks in the same manner that the Legionnaire was, so how was that man even keeping up? The screen-interface was too slow to do this kind of programming!

Unless, of course, his paranoid mind had considered that Brainy might get this far and so he had already developed most of these security measures in case of this kind of attack. As Brainy deleted yet another batch of viruses he suspected that might be the case.

If it's programmed, there's a pattern in it somewhere, he told himself.

And if there's a pattern, I can exploit it.

I just have to find it before it kills me.

  New London, Apartments:

"It looks clear for now. It seems to be an abandoned part of the maintenance facilities. I don't think this kind of equipment has been used in several years," Tinya reported to the thers. "There still could be things behind the walls; I didn't check. Should I?" Lyle considered that for a moment.

"No, there weren't any other traps in the air duct. Let's go." The team moved out from the air duct. As Leviathan, first out, touched the floor they all heard a click. She froze and looked around for a moment, eyes settling on the panel by the door on the opposite wall.

Lyle scrambled out of the air duct and hit the floor just as the wall panel started to ask questions in several different languages. Apparition looked utterly dismayed. "I didn't think to actually land," she apologized as Invisible Kid pulled the cover off the panel and started examining the security unit.

"It's--nass--look out--"

Panels sprung loose from the ceiling and the mounted laser weapons spun down and took aim on the group. Chameleon shrunk quickly into a gnat as they started to fire. Apparition phased out. Leviathan could shrink, too, but Triad and Lyle had no escape from the deadly beams.

  Takron-Galtros:

"That's the last of them, Captain," Mon'El reported as Cosmic Boy popped open another life pod. The two inmates took one look at the Legionnaires surrounding them and hung their heads. Resisting now would be foolish.

"I can't thank you enough, Mon'El," the Captain answered. Before he could continue Private Gft'Dql came up and saluted.

"Sir! Records indicate one prisoner has managed to escape."

"Who?" asked the SP Officer and the Legionnaire at the same time.

"Brainiac 4."

  Space:

Brainiac 4 ran her hands over the smooth edges of the plastic casing, caressing the computer Jovan had so thoughtfully liberated for her. And the ship he'd brought her was marvelous, as well. Just what she wanted.

Jovan was back on the SP Cruiser, unconscious. The auto-destruct sequence was counting down. When the Science Police found the wreckage, she knew they'd find traces of Coluan DNA amongst the shrapnel that was left of their ship. Perhaps that would satisfy them. Perhaps it wouldn't.

She didn't care either way.

She took out a small cube and attached it to the top of the clear case. "Orac," she commanded. Lights began to flash inside the machine as the computer slowly woke up.

  Datalinks:

Brainiac 5.1 sliced through another set of leech programs. He had the pattern now. And he was making headway. He'd started throwing off attack programs of his own. Soon, he knew, the advantage would be his.

As quickly as he could think, he pressed the attack.

And then, for no apparent reason, the attack ceased, and returned to a mere computer's defenses and weaponry. Brainiac 5.1 sliced through the code and found the breeding area for the viruses at last. He started to shut them down, sparing a thought-track to check on the Legion Headquarters, and wondering what had happened to Avon. It didn't seem like the man to simply stop.

  Apartments, New London:

Leviathan grew.

As she enlarged, she folded Triad and Invisible Kid into her arms, shielding them both from the laser beams. Tinya leapt into the ceiling to disarm the weapons that were cutting into Violet's flesh. Scorched skin and fabric filled the air with their scent, a nauseating smell. By the time Apparition floated back down through the ceiling Violet was unconscious from the injuries and pain. She lay in the corridor and didn't move.

"Grife," whispered Triad as she knelt beside unconscious girl and starting rummaging in her belt pouches for a medkit. Chameleon reformed next to Lyle. Lyle wasn't focussing on anything, instead speaking telepathically to Saturn Girl and reassuring her that they could continue the mission.

The argument wasn't finished before the door slid open. Avon shot four times, taking out Lyle, Triad and Chameleon before they had quite finished registering the sound of the door opening. Apparition phased and the blast went straight through her.

Avon pulled back from the door into his work area. It hissed shut as he did. He reached into a cabinet and yanked free another blaster as Tinya came screaming through the doorway at him. Her boots had just cleared the metal when he fired.

Too late Apparition recognized the gun and started to go solid.

The Bgztlian Police Stunner hit her while she was still phased. Her back arched as she screamed and went limp, sinking slowly to the floor.

"Too close," Avon said. He looked around his lab and decided leaving now was the better course of action. The self-destructs were in place. To stay here now would only compromise him further. He picked up his jacket and walked out the door.

Right into Imra's fist.

Imra followed the uppercut with a mental blast that had startlingly little effect from the Legionnaire's point of view. Her hurried scan of his mind left her confused. It was almost like reading computer code except he most certainly was human! She sent another mental command and while it stunned him, she couldn't put him to sleep like she wanted.

She reached mentally for Brainy. I have Avon but I can't figure out how to put him to sleep! she sent. As quickly as only a telepath could, she opened Avon's thoughts to Brainiac 5.1. There he directed her, and Imra sent through one last blast that put Kerr Avon on the floor.

That explains quite a bit. No wonder he could keep up with me. He thinks like a computer. I wonder how he learned to do that, Brainy mused. Anyway, I'm cleaning out his viruses and I've shut down his destruct programs. Hopefully I'll have more data from his system shortly.

Keep on it, Brainy, Imra sent, then dissolved the contact. She looked around the room and then punched her codes into what looked like a comm screen. After a few moments it came up and a Science Police Officer answered. She told him where they were and that they needed medical assistance as quickly as possible, as well as a team to pick up Avon for processing. As the screen went blank she leaned against the chair and sighed.

  Earthgov, Judiciary:

The judge, in her archaic yet traditional black robes, sat in highest seat of the dais, in a small box that doubled as a desk of sorts. To her left was positioned an open box for witnesses. Holocams floated throughout the room.

Facing her sat Leland McCauley, a small army of his own lawyers; the Representative from Athram, with an army of his lawyers; and the representative from Cargg, with his lawyers as well. Behind them were arranged spectators and witnesses. Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5.1 were amongst the latter. The Legion Espionage Squad would have been present, but they were still recovering in the medlab from their ordeal. All were expected to pull through just fine.

To the right of the Prosecution sat Avon, with his lone defender, appointed by the courts. He was still dressed in black, conservative but well-made. His face was made of stone as he listened to the judge's announcement.

"Bearing in mind the testimony of both Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5.1, as well as the precedents already set in law, this Court refuses the appeal to have Kerr Avon mindscanned for the location of the missing credits he has appropriated. If the recovered computers from his lab can be used to locate the funds, well and good, but his mind, such as it is, remains his own."

McCauley leapt to his feet before his lawyers quite had their hands on him. "This is outrageous! I have lost millions of credits, and you're going to allow him to get away with it?!" He shrugged off the lawyers' hands even as the two planetary representatives leaned in to try to calm him down. "This is not justice!"

"Mr. McCauley, sit down before I fine you for contempt of Court. My ruling stands. Kerr Avon is to be remanded into the custody of the Science Police at Takron-Galtros, where he will live out the remainder of his days. The credits already recovered will be split evenly amongst Cargg, Athram, and McCauley Industries."

"Split?! Split! I'll appeal this to the highest court possible! I will see you--"

"Mr. McCauley." Everyone paused and turned to look at Kerr Avon, including Leland, stopping mid-tirade. "Do calm down. It's only ones and zeroes."

Brainiac 5.1's force shield snapped into place before Avon, just as McCauley, overcome with rage, leapt for the man.

  Takron-Galtros:

Brainy ran through another diagnostic on the systems. He was certain he'd purged Avon's viruses and closed up any backdoors the man might have left in the programming, but it never hurt to be thorough. He'd spent the last two weeks upgrading the systems himself.

In a special cell, locked with ordinary, archaic padlocks and combination bolts, Kerr Avon lay on his bunk and stared at the ceiling. Bars of inertron formed a cage arms' length from any wall. Too far for him to reach any possible electrical or computer system. The Science Police had taken him quite seriously. He smiled.

Across the hall, a man dressed in the same suit all the inmates wore was led into his new cell. He paced around the small room and then jerked his head at Avon. "Who's he?" the man asked the Science Police Officer.

"Him? That's Kerr Avon, the number two computer man in the galaxy."

"Number two? Who's number one?"

"The man who caught him." The Officer grinned widely as he keyed home the lock. "Try to keep your hands to yourself this time, eh, Vila? We're getting tired of moving you around."

Vila Restal tilted his head. "The locks are just such interesting new challenges. Hard to resist."

The officer shook his head as he walked away. From across the hall, through the security fields, Avon asked, "Vila? What exactly is it that you do?"

Vila grinned. "There's not a lock I can't pick, if I'm scared enough."

"Really."

Avon smiled.

  Legion Headquarters:

Imra rubbed her temples as she punched in the last of her records for the mission dealing with Avon. Brainiac 5.1 was due back at HQ within the week. Chuck had been doing extra detail on the security systems in case Brainiac 4 came after her son again, and Saturn Girl had taken a few of the Legionnaires aside and asked them to keep an extra eye out for their scientist teammate. He hadn't said anything to anyone but Imra could sense the worry in Querl.

The record finished, she uploaded it into the Legion database and stood, stretching. It was definitely time to go to bed. Tomorrow she would make up the team to search for Brainiac 4. Tonight, she wanted to sleep, and steal a few moments peace.

  Epilogue

She moved onto the bridge of her ship with ease. No alarms sounded at her passing. No security systems forbade her movement. She was ruler of her small domain. With the poise of a queen she settled into the captain's chair.

It was regrettable Avon had been captured. He would have been useful. She would have to see to having him freed, at some point.

But not right away.

Her green-hued hand drifted down to touch the plastic box next to her. The lights in the computer were dim but she knew Orac was calculating what she required.

No, Avon's release would wait. She had other matters to attend to first.

Such as her son.

*************

Author's Note: I will assume you are all familiar with the characters in the Legion of Super-Heroes. Kerr Avon, Vila Restal, and Orac are characters from a British science-fiction show called Blake's 7. I've inserted them into this tale with no attempt to remain true to their storyline, although I have tried to maintain their characters and personalities.