hours micromanaging the winter food shipments through the Ohio Valley, when he remembered other frozen foods.
He found Auntie Arctic in the gulag on Kelly’s Island where they’d sent all the insane people. She was sitting by the window of the woman’s hut watching the birds skipping across the waves. A line of drool rolled off her lip. She was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt even though it was a crisp March day.
He pulled down his mask.
She looked at Sinister for a few moments, then blinked and smiled.
“Hi, Doc.”
“Hi, Auntie.” The cold seemed to roll off her in waves. “How are you?”
She didn’t answer, and though he sat with her for half an hour, she didn’t say anything more.
Back in the capital, Squidopolis, he signed an edict closing the gulags. Then he drugged the Squid’s ink juice and shipped his body in a giant lobster cage to the Guild district office in Pittsburgh. He dropped his mask and surgical smock in a trash can and took a long vacation out west while their dictatorship was slowly toppled and Ohio was reaffirmed into its place in the Union.
*
“I thought it was you,” the woman said. “So this is your secret identity.”
Curt looked at the pregnant woman in the wheelchair. Her hair was black and straight instead of the blue-black ringlets he remembered. She had put on a few more pounds and her face was rosy.
“Auntie?”
“Gwen Ka Yay,” she said with a smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to blow your cover.”
He rolled her into an examination room and took her blood pressure himself instead of letting a nurse do it.
“I don’t do that anymore.”
“You lost your power too?” She reached out to squeeze his biceps.
“You don’t freeze anymore?” he asked, surprised. He stuck a thermometer in her mouth. Ninety-eight point six.
She shrugged. “I found a doctor who said he could remove the brick. It’s in my freezer now. We don’t even have to plug it in.”
“Where’s your —?” he pointed to her belly. “Mrs. Ka Yay? You?”
“My husband is the Yippee Ka Yay Kid. He’s parking the horse.” She blushed. “He was real nice to me once Sinister Squidtopia collapsed.”
“That’s good,” he said, his heart in his throat.
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” she said. Curt noted the time of the contraction.
“When was the last one?”
“Ten minutes, maybe? The Kid was writing it down. We were at a park doing tricks for the kids. I was a cow and he would lasso me.”
“In your condition?”
“Well, I wasn’t a running cow, more of an ambling cow.” She laughed and rubbed both hands over her belly. “I’d rather be a supervillain sometimes than face what’s coming.”
“I think you’ll be a fine mother,” he said. “And the Kid will be a fine father.”
“I’m worried that I won’t know how to care for it. I’ve never really cared for anything at all.”
“That’s not true, and we both know it.”
She wiped her fist across her face and looked at him.
“I remember seeing you on the island. Geez. I remember seeing a lot of things come up that beach. The Titanic. Jim Carey. The USC Marching Band. But I remember seeing you too.”
Curt didn’t say anything.
“Howdy, Pard!” the Yippee Ka Yay Kid shouted. “How’s the little lady doing, Doc?”
He squeezed Curt’s hand and Curt squeezed back.
“Ow! That’s some grip you have there, Pard! Say! Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
Curt shrugged, and glanced at Gwen. She smiled and said, “He’s an old friend I knew once. You’re an intern here, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
“Finally finishing up school, huh?”
“You can read me like a book.”
“You have a good bedside manner.”
“I figure it’s where I can do the most good.”
“Are you happy?”
“I, um —” he said, having never thought about it. “No happier than before, but a little wiser. I guess.”
She smiled and then squeezed her eyes shut.
Curt checked his watch. “Six minutes. I think we better get you
He found Auntie Arctic in the gulag on Kelly’s Island where they’d sent all the insane people. She was sitting by the window of the woman’s hut watching the birds skipping across the waves. A line of drool rolled off her lip. She was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt even though it was a crisp March day.
He pulled down his mask.
She looked at Sinister for a few moments, then blinked and smiled.
“Hi, Doc.”
“Hi, Auntie.” The cold seemed to roll off her in waves. “How are you?”
She didn’t answer, and though he sat with her for half an hour, she didn’t say anything more.
Back in the capital, Squidopolis, he signed an edict closing the gulags. Then he drugged the Squid’s ink juice and shipped his body in a giant lobster cage to the Guild district office in Pittsburgh. He dropped his mask and surgical smock in a trash can and took a long vacation out west while their dictatorship was slowly toppled and Ohio was reaffirmed into its place in the Union.
*
“I thought it was you,” the woman said. “So this is your secret identity.”
Curt looked at the pregnant woman in the wheelchair. Her hair was black and straight instead of the blue-black ringlets he remembered. She had put on a few more pounds and her face was rosy.
“Auntie?”
“Gwen Ka Yay,” she said with a smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to blow your cover.”
He rolled her into an examination room and took her blood pressure himself instead of letting a nurse do it.
“I don’t do that anymore.”
“You lost your power too?” She reached out to squeeze his biceps.
“You don’t freeze anymore?” he asked, surprised. He stuck a thermometer in her mouth. Ninety-eight point six.
She shrugged. “I found a doctor who said he could remove the brick. It’s in my freezer now. We don’t even have to plug it in.”
“Where’s your —?” he pointed to her belly. “Mrs. Ka Yay? You?”
“My husband is the Yippee Ka Yay Kid. He’s parking the horse.” She blushed. “He was real nice to me once Sinister Squidtopia collapsed.”
“That’s good,” he said, his heart in his throat.
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” she said. Curt noted the time of the contraction.
“When was the last one?”
“Ten minutes, maybe? The Kid was writing it down. We were at a park doing tricks for the kids. I was a cow and he would lasso me.”
“In your condition?”
“Well, I wasn’t a running cow, more of an ambling cow.” She laughed and rubbed both hands over her belly. “I’d rather be a supervillain sometimes than face what’s coming.”
“I think you’ll be a fine mother,” he said. “And the Kid will be a fine father.”
“I’m worried that I won’t know how to care for it. I’ve never really cared for anything at all.”
“That’s not true, and we both know it.”
She wiped her fist across her face and looked at him.
“I remember seeing you on the island. Geez. I remember seeing a lot of things come up that beach. The Titanic. Jim Carey. The USC Marching Band. But I remember seeing you too.”
Curt didn’t say anything.
“Howdy, Pard!” the Yippee Ka Yay Kid shouted. “How’s the little lady doing, Doc?”
He squeezed Curt’s hand and Curt squeezed back.
“Ow! That’s some grip you have there, Pard! Say! Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
Curt shrugged, and glanced at Gwen. She smiled and said, “He’s an old friend I knew once. You’re an intern here, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
“Finally finishing up school, huh?”
“You can read me like a book.”
“You have a good bedside manner.”
“I figure it’s where I can do the most good.”
“Are you happy?”
“I, um —” he said, having never thought about it. “No happier than before, but a little wiser. I guess.”
She smiled and then squeezed her eyes shut.
Curt checked his watch. “Six minutes. I think we better get you
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