The SupriDames flew above a nearly empty countryside beyond the outer Monteville suburbs. Amperine and Valkyrelle flew ahead while Gravilass projected a force bubble to transport the non-flying members of the team.

“There it is,” Kestrylenne said as the SupriDames approached the warehouse where her sources had identified as the place where the stolen quantatomic batteries were stashed.

“Assuming that this is actually the right place, and it’s not a trap.” Aquinia commented. “Do you think the Pangolin can be trusted?”

“Of course not. I checked his story against my other sources. Also, SAVANT confirms that they lost a half-dozen prototype units last week.”

“What a surprise,” Gravilass deadpanned. The Science Application Ventures Advanced Network Team was notorious for its ingenuity at creating advanced devices and its ineptitude at keeping them out of the wrong hands.

“The location also fits some other clues. There are some unique mineral fragments in this area from an ancient meteor impact; I found traces of them on one of the Pangolin’s trucks. Those mineral deposits dissipate quantum fluctuation readings, which makes this an ideal location to hide a quantatomic device from aerial scanning.”

“It also looks like a good place to set a trap,” MimicMaid commented.

“That’s why I brought the whole team,” Kestrylenne responded. “I’m assuming that the thieves have set up some kind of alarm, but there’s no sign that anybody is on site guarding the place. We’ll go in and split up to find the devices before anybody can get here. If we run into trouble we’ll regroup and deal with it.”

The team hovered above their destination. “Is the plan still to go in through the roof access door?” Gravilass asked.

“Yes. Make it a quiet soft landing just in case we’ve got company.”

“Will do, boss!” Gravilass replied as the team began to descend.

They landed smoothly and quietly, facing outward to watch the perimeter as Gravilass lowered the forcefield. So far, so good...

It just might be possible to do this the easy way. “Amperine, Gravilass, are you detecting anything?” Kestrylenne asked as she scanned the area with her handcomp.

“Nope,” Gravilass replied. “There’s some kind of interference with my gravitic sense. It’s probably those weird rock formations around here. I guess you’re right about this being the best place to hide something like this.”

Amperine nodded. “Same here. With all the background noise I’d have to be within ten meters or so to detect one of those batteries.”

They were going to have to do this the hard way, then. The group approached the access door. It was locked, but it took only a moment for MimicMaid to shape her finger into a key that opened it. The heroines entered the doorway, walked down a flight of stairs into a small maintenance room, and then opened another door leading to a long corridor.

“This is where we split up. Everyone keep moving, keep your eyes open, and keep checking in.”

They split into two groups of three, and split again as they encountered branching hallways, until each was alone.

In a small office room in a recently added concealed basement beneath the warehouse, a laptop beeped.

Tekminx grinned as she watched the camera images and listened to the heroines’ conversation. Good, the clues she’d planted with the Pangolin and a few smaller black-market operators had led them right here. They were obliging enough to enter exactly where she would have if their situations had been reversed. That simplified spying on them and confirming that they had no idea what they were getting into.

She’d started formulating the plan when she discovered this site. Its unique location would make it an obvious target for the heroines once she arranged the theft of the quantatomic batteries.

It was an even better place after she made her own improvements, adding cameras and microphones and a buried command center. She could watch the heroines’ every move, set bait to draw them into the traps she’d set, and catch them off guard.

Now, everything was in place and the plan was working even better than she’d hoped. She’d expected to capture three or four heroines and use them to ensnare the rest, but all six of them had obligingly walked into her trap. So much the better. She was prepared to exploit this opportunity to get them all at once.

She watched and listened as the heroines went their separate ways, following the obvious paths outward from their entry point. She double-checked the surprises waiting for them and waited.

“Amperine here. Nothing but empty rooms and corridors so far.”

“Same here. Everything’s been quiet.”

“Too quiet...” Gravilass added in a mock-ominous tone.

“Yes, too quiet,” Kestrylenne said in a more serious tone. “That could change at any moment. Everybody be careful.”

Amperine proceeded down a long corridor, scanning the surroundings with her electrical sense. She detected an energy signature she didn’t recognize. It was coming from somewhere behind the next door on her left. “I think I might have found something,” she said into her commlink as she approached.

She carefully opened the door to reveal a small storeroom. It looked empty from the doorway, but when she entered the room she saw a recessed alcove. A box on the floor was the source of the energy she was sensing. When she bent down and opened the box, she found the source. It was a device far too small to be one of the stolen quantatomic battery units.

Before she could investigate further, the door slammed shut and jets of gas spewed from the device.

Amperine coughed. She tried to open the door and found it locked. Reflexively, she launched a lightning bolt at the doorknob. Fortunately, the gas wasn’t explosive. Unfortunately, the lock was strong enough to withstand her attack. “It’s a trap!” she gasped, listening for a reply that never came.

She tried to use her powers to generate a stronger radio signal, but her electrical senses told her that it wasn’t getting out. The closed door had trapped her in an Faraday cage that blocked transmission in or out.

She kicked the door while tossing another electrical blast at it. It didn’t open. In desperation, she slammed her body into the door. She had to get out, get away from the gas, warn her teammates...

Amperine slumped to the floor.

Tekminx watched the camera feed. The counterfeit energy signature had fooled Amperine completely. She’d worried that the electrical heroine might detect some anomaly and become suspicious, but she hadn’t. The others, relying on detection gadgets, would almost certainly fall for the trick.

“One down, five to go.” she said with a grin. She didn’t really expect to pick them all off one by one; once they realized they were in trouble they would regroup. She was prepared for that contingency, however.

With a few clicks of the mouse, she played back an image of Amperine bending down to open the bait box, zoomed in on her behind, and paused the video. Oh, yes, the payoff from this plan would be well worth the work she’d put into it...

“I think I might have found something.”

Amperine’s voice was weak and staticky, as if she’d gone into a radio dead zone. Probably she had; the warehouse had thick walls reinforced with steel pillars. Radio reception within the building was somewhat dicey as a result.

Kestrylenne continued her own search using a scanning gadget while she waited for Amperine to follow up on her report. After another minute or so, she decided she’d waited long enough. “Amperine? Are you there? Come in, Amperine...”

There was no reply. She should have had more to say by now.

“Amperine? Come in, Amperine...”

“Should I go after her?” Valkyrelle asked. “I’m closest to her location.”

“Yes, but be careful.”

“Always am.”

Kestrylenne repressed an impulse to scoff, recalling the big bruiser’s tendency to rush in half-cocked. “I’m serious. If she got into trouble she couldn’t get out of, the last thing we need is having the same thing happen to you. Stay in contact.”

“Will do.”

The team leader checked the map of the warehouse on her minicomp. It showed Amperine inside the storeroom where she’d detected something, Valkyrelle rapidly moving toward her location, and the others searching various areas of the building.

“Talk to me, Valkyrelle,” Kestrylenne said as she saw the muscular powerhouse of the team approach the spot where Amperine had remained unmoving for over a minute. She was getting a very bad feeling about this...

“I’m at the door, about to open it...”

There was a burst of static, and then the channel went silent.

“Valkyrelle! Valkyrelle! Come in, Valkyrelle!”

There was no reply.

“Everyone! Head for Valkyrelle’s location, but do not, I repeat, do not open the door until we’re all there!”

She took off at a dead run.

“Two down, four to go!” Tekminx gloated as she set off the hidden electrical plating beneath Valkyrelle’s feet. She’d turned it up to full power and worried for a moment that even that wouldn’t bring down the big tough powerhouse, but after a few seconds the heroine had fallen to the floor unconscious.

She dispatched a robot to move Valkyrelle into the storeroom to ensure that her unconscious body wasn’t spotted by the others and that the sedative vapors would keep her unconscious until the entire group was captured and ready for transport.

She listened to the chatter on the intruders’ commlink and knew that this was going to be her last chance to pick off heroines one at a time. That was not a problem. She was prepared to take down the rest of the group.

She maneuvered her combat robots into position and waited.

Kestrylenne arrived to find Gravilass and Aquinia waiting. MimicMaid, who had been searching the far corner of the warehouse, arrived a few moments later.

“Gravilass, put up a force field around us and blast down that door.”

The moment the deflecting dome was in place, a floor tile bounced into the air, propelled by a jet of gas.

“Force field off!” Kestrylenne gasped. She reached for the filter mask on her utility belt. “Move out!” The further away they got, the more dilute the gas would get.

The force field went down, and the heroines stumbled away from the trap. Kestrylenne took a breath. Judging by the smell, the filter wasn’t working against this gas.

Three robots came into view at an intersection. Three more arrived from the other direction.

Disoriented and woozy, the heroines were easy prey. Gravilass managed to shatter one of the robots before she fell to a stun beam. Aquinia tried to flow under a door, but didn’t make it to cover quite fast enough. MimicMaid’s malleable body was tough enough to take several stun blasts before falling unconscious. Finally, Kestrylenne’s fighting skill enabled her to dodge attack after attack, but the enemy eventually scored a direct hit and brought her down.

Tekminx watched as the robots loaded the unconscious heroines onto wheeled trolleys. She double-checked that each of their collars was securely fastened and set to keep them unconscious for the next few hours. She also reviewed the power suppressor elements, confirming that they would be fully calibrated and ready to render the heroines powerless long before it was time to awaken them.

Just to be sure, a clear hyperplast cover was in place over each heroine, strong enough to hold even Valkyrelle and airtight enough to confine even Aquinia or MimicMaid. Each had an air supply and a knockout gas dispenser. Insuring that her prizes didn’t escape at the last minute called for all the multiple redundancy she could arrange.

She followed as the robots pulled the trolleys down a long ramp leading to a basement garage. They were then loaded onto a truck fitted with brackets and belts to hold the sedated captives in place. The robots then took their own places in the cargo compartment, after loading the shattered remains of the blasted one.

Tekminx climbed into the driver’s seat and drove out the concealed exit onto a little-used side road. A few minutes later, she was on the highway among thousands of other vehicles. A half hour later, she took an exit and followed a route that ultimately led to an entrance half-concealed by shrubbery. Finally, her vehicle disappeared into the hidden entrance to her lair.

She reviewed the preparations. Everything was in order.

After giving the robots their instructions, she watched them prepare the unconscious heroines and strap them into position. She resisted the temptation to slide a hand into her tights as she visualized the consummation of her plan.

Frustrating as it was, she knew that depriving herself now would pay off later.