Atria stood up.  “My turn.  Approximately three days ago, an unidentified thief arrived in my world and stole a power source from one of our power generation facilities.  We were attempting to recover this power source and return it to our world before the containment system on it fails.  According to Captain Infinite, this failure has already begun.”

    “And if containment fails?”

    “The blast would be approximately thirty to forty kilotons.”

    For a moment, Stella thought she saw Colonel Sato become stony-faced, but then it passed.

    “I see,” he said.  “Do you know how long it will be before containment reaches critical failure?”

    Atria shook her head.  “Not at this time, sir.”

    “And should you acquire this power source, do you have a means for returning it to your world?”

    “Not at this time, sir,” Atria replied.  “We had hoped to convince the thief to take it back himself, but our attempt to persuade him failed.”

    “And are you able at this time to identify this thief or his accomplice?” Sato said.

    Beside Stella, Adam raised his hand.  Sato saw him and nodded as Atria sat back in her chair.  “We can identify the teenager,” Adam stated.  “Her name is Jenny Calhoun.  She’s from a series called Jenny Calhoun, Monster Slayer – at least that’s what it is called in my country.  I think her creator is appearing at the convention we came here to see.  As far as I know, one of Captain Infinite’s writers is there too.”

    “What about the thief?” Sato asked.

 

   “None of us know who he is or where he’s from.  I’m sorry.”

    Sato took a deep breath.  “I see.”  He turned to Cap.  “Captain Infinite, your quality is well known in this country.  You are the only Western comic book superhero to my knowledge who has retained all of their moral integrity.  So, I ask you this: do you vouch for these people?”

    “I do,” Cap replied.

    “Colonel Sato,” Atria said, standing again.  “As a duly commissioned officer and representative of the Hyperborean Army, I officially request the assistance of your government and military in the recovery of my nation’s property.”

    “I am not authorized to grant such a request at this time,” Sato said.  “But I will take it up with my commanding officer and the Ministry.  In the meantime, you will all be confined to barracks here on the base while we sort out this rather impressive mess.”

    “We were supposed to be attending a convention this weekend,” Adam said.  “There’s still tomorrow–”

    “You’ll be missing that,” Sato stated.  “Captain Infinite, we are all aware that we can do nothing to prevent you from leaving this place if you so choose.  We are, however, going respectfully request that you stay in confinement of your own free will while we resolve this matter.”

    “I will stay with my friends,” Cap said.

    “Very well,” Sato said, standing.  His party followed him.  “This meeting is adjourned.  The Sergeant first class will make arrangements for any belongings you require to be transported from your places of residence to the barracks.  Otherwise, you will be informed of any decisions regarding this matter once they have been made.”

    As the officers left the room, Stella gripped her fiancé’s hand and wondered what would happen next.

NEXT: “Confinement”