Part One
Karen Starr idly scrolled through the list of emails crowding her inbox when the intercom buzzed. "Yes?" she said, leaning forward.
A voice crackled through the intercom. "Ms. Starr? Your 9:30 is here. Ms. Danvers?" Karen frowned. All this technology at her disposal and she couldn't get a decent intercom system installed? Oh well, she shrugged, can't let it get in the way of business. "Show her in," she responded.
Col. Carol Danvers turned out to be nothing like Karen was expecting when she'd heard of her military background. Her tall, slender frame had just enough curve to it to make the drab beige of her uniform still seem to struggle to stay immodest. Her blonde hair, held in a tight bun behind her, seemed to belie a vast mane of tresses were they to be set free. Karen silently felt a kinship with this woman, as she understood all too well the perils of having a particular figure yet being forced to hide it behind a particular cut of clothing.
Danvers offered her hand, and Karen took it in a firm but polite handshake. "Ms. Starr, I hope you won't mind, but I've asked my associate, Mrs. Van Dyne, to accompany me."
The woman standing just behind Carol was nearly her opposite number, her petite frame only highlighted by her short-cropped brown hair.
"Janet Van Dyne?" Karen nodded as she took her hand. "The designer?"
"The same," the perky woman chirped playfully as she smiled back at her. "Col. Danvers and I have worked together in the past, and she felt I might be of some assistance with our discussion today. If it's a problem I can wait outs-"
Karen put a hand up. "It's not a problem at all," she said with a bit of a blush. "It's just...well, I'm a bit of a fan. I'm wearing one of your outfits, if you hadn't noticed."
Janet looked her up and down. "I had wondered, but I didn't want to blurt anything out. You're a bit...umm...curvier than the usual runway models I'm used to."
The three laughed lightly as Karen motioned to small meeting table. As they took their seats, Karen initiated the conversation. "I'll admit, Col. Danvers - "
"Carol," Danvers interrupted. "We're not on the base, and you're not under arrest."
"Fine," Karen nodded. "Carol, I'm a bit concerned with the sudden military interest in my little technology company."
"Well," Carol leaned back in her chair. "It's only recently come to our attention...the potential of the things your company creates...you may not realize it but you wield a lot of power, girl!"
Karen cocked her head. "Excuse me? What did you say?"
Carol leaned forward. "I said you wield a lot of power...girl."
It struck her like a thunderbolt. Suddenly she saw beyond the military garb and tightly brushed hair. Okay lady, she thought, two can play this game.
"Well, I suppose I do. Tell me though, Ms. Danvers. You haven't come to just marvel at my accomplishments, have you?"
"Oh for Pete's sake!" Van Dyne cut in. "Can we just knock off the pretense?"
Karen quickly rose from her chair and strode purposefully to her office door. Sticking her head out to speak to her assistant, she quietly requested no interruptions and to cancel all appointments for the rest of the day. Locking the door, she quickly spun around with super-speed. This'll give those two a bit of a thrill, she thought as she changed from her normal office attire into the more familiar white, red and blue outfit of her alter ego - Power Girl!
Her smirk quickly turned to astonishment as she found Ms. Marvel and The Wasp already in costume at the table, as if they'd barely moved.
"What kept you?" the Wasp said with a smile. Karen shrugged in exasperation. "Okay, so you know who I am, and I know who you are. Keep in mind nobody else at Starrware knows it, though."
"We're the military," Ms. Marvel said plainly. "We've known about you for some time now, but because you do good work, we tend not to see a need to interfere."
"I see," Power Girl said, taking back her seat. "And if I weren't doing good work?"
"I'd take you out," Ms. Marvel said, her stare almost daring Power Girl to try and test her on that subject. Before Karen could consider it, though, Carol continued. "We're not here to see who's better than who, though. We have a much larger problem. Advanced Idea Mechanics."
"AIM?" Power Girl sat back in her chair. "The beekeeper guys?"
The Wasp leaned forward. "Deadlier than you think they are, despite their horrible fashion sense. Long story short, they're looking to create a super-soldier. An army of them."
"Using Starrware technology," Ms. Marvel chimed in.
"And my husb...well, ex-husband's...armor designs," Janet quickly added.
Karen put a hand to her head, trying to process this new information. "I don't know how they could have gotten ahold of any of our trade secrets. We keep that stuff under lock and ke-"
Ms. Marvel crossed her legs in front of her, and Power Girl did her best to try not to notice them. She suddenly understood how everyone felt when she confronted them and had to do everything in her power not to get them to stare at her breasts.
"Karen," Ms. Marvel put a comforting hand on Karen's bare leg. "Nobody's blaming you. They're criminals. They steal things. The fact is, they've got it."
"The question is, what are we going to do about it?" Janet stood up, revealing the fourteenth new version of her costume this year, an orange and yellow unitard that tried to reveal more leg than usual. No doubt brought out to at least try and keep pace with Carol's, Karen thought.
"We could use some extra muscle on this," Ms. Marvel stood up beside her partner. "AIM aren't pushovers, and we just thought -"
"That I'd have a vested interest in some payback?" Power Girl rose to face them. "Believe it," she said with a smile and a wink.
* * *
Outside her office, Karen's assistant made a quick call on her cellphone.
"They arrived?" a voice said abruptly without any greeting.
"Both of them," the assistant said. "I would expect company, soon."
"Good," the voice responded. "The alien will be ours. And with her, the world!"
To Be Continued...
(Note: I know...not much sexy action (or any action) this first chapter...but I had to set it up first!







