Wonder Woman – Volume 1 – 249

Synopsis - Main Story

As Military Police wave by the onlookers a red-haired girl is surprised to see the Amazon Princess standing sadly over the grave of her lover. The girl has heard of Steve’s death and knows that the Amazon has no one to turn to for comfort. She pushes through the group of onlookers and calls to her.

Wonder Woman turns and is pleasantly surprised to see the young girl who she recognises. The girl asks the Amazon why she has not contacted any of her colleagues, but before she can get an answer the two women are interrupted by the arrival of a man who asks to speak with Wonder Woman. She replies that she wishes to be left alone with her friend but he hands her an ID card and says that she willwant to talk to him. When she reads it she is surprised to discover that the man is in fact Gregory Trevor, Steve’s brother!

She tells him that Steve had never mentioned he had a brother and indeed, never talked about any of his family. He replies that there is a reason and he would like to explain. He suggests they all go somewhere more private and soon they are driving away from Arlington in his car.

He explains to the two women that he and Steve had not communicated for years, ever since Gregory went undercover for the “organisation”. But in recent weeks he had had to secretly contact his brother because of information the organisation had discovered about a group called the United Nationalists for Revelation of Essential Secret Technologies (U.N.R.E.S.T.).

He goes on to say that U.N.R.E.S.T. have threatened the lives of members of the Justice League. When Wonder Woman asks why he replies that the group demand the JLA reveal the sophisticated technologies they use on the JLA Satellite and if not, the group are prepared to take direct action.

But just as Gregory is saying that Steve knew of specific actions planned against her before he died, he suddenly recognises the sound of ticking and orders them to get out fast. The three of them dive out just in time before a car bomb explodes, destroying the vehicle.

As they dust themselves down Gregory tells them that this is serious because he was the only one who knew that he was intending to meet Wonder Woman today. It seems that U.N.R.E.S.T. agents have infiltrated the “organisation”.

Wonder Woman cannot believe that the bomb was intended for her but Gregory tells her that it most definitely was and then asks her just how much she knows about this young girl with them? She becomes angry at his suspicions and grabbing him by the collar, retorts that she knows a whole lot more about her than she knows about him! He stammers that he can go and get proof of everything he has told her and pleads for her to put him down. The young girl tries to calm the enraged Amazon and suggests that they meet Gregory later after contacting a few of their ‘friends’.

She agrees and taking the girl with her, leaps onboard her waiting robot plane, telling Gregory that as he found her once she is sure he can find her again! He watches her go as a police car pulls up to the burning wreckage of the bombed vehicle and he casually flashes his ID at the officer, telling him to take care of “this mess”.

He thinks to himself that Wonder Woman is everything Steve said she was…and more. She is a super heroine in the truest sense of the term and he will have to make sure that he is there when the next attempt on her life is made…

A few miles away the two women have landed and the young girl leads Wonder Woman to her parked car. As the Amazon Princess watches the girl, whose name is Shiera Hall, change into her Hawkgirl costume, she explains that in the last few weeks before Steve died they had not really been communicating and there was obviously something on his mind. But she feels sure that if Steve knew about death threats against members of the Justice League he would have said something.

The two super heroines take off into the air, Wonder Woman in her invisible jet and Hawkgirl using her wings. Hawkgirl comes from a distant planet called Thanagar and was formerly a police officer there. Now she and her husband, Hawkman, have been banished to Earth and continue to fight injustice here.

Wonder Woman tries to contact the Justice League Satellite using her mental radio but cannot get through and when Hawkgirl tries her own communicator she is unsuccessful too. They decide that the signal is being jammed and that even the Teleporter cannot be activated. The Amazon tells Hawkgirl that they could fly up to the Satellite but that it may well be a trap. The two of them decide they need to make plans first and Hawkgirl says that she has a room nearby where they can talk.

A few minutes later they have changed back into their civilian identities and make their way inside the Washington Arms Hotel. Shiera says that she has rented a room on the top floor and they make their way up. As they do, an unseen figure makes a phone call…

Once up in the room, Shiera sits Diana down and says that before they begin making plans they should talk about Steve. Diana replies that she does not want to drag her problems into those of the Justice League but Shiera tells her that she is being ridiculous. What other friends can she talk to who also know her double identity? Diana agrees that it has been difficult but that just knowing there is someone to talk to is comfort enough.

Just then the phone rings and when Shiera answers it she is surprised to hear Gregory Trevor on the other end! She asks him how he knew where she could be reached and he replies that the “organisation” has ways of tracking down individuals. He asks her whether she can contact Wonder Woman again so that they can all meet later tonight and she says she can.

And so later that evening Wonder Woman, wearing a long coat over her costume, and Shiera enter a bar and approach Gregory who is at a far table. He thanks them for coming and says he has some urgent information and that they have discovered a jamming frequency being broadcast across the entire city.

Wonder Woman replies that she knows about it and that it is tuned to the Justice League’s wavelength. Suddenly she spots a gun hidden in the light fitting above them, ready to fire itself and yells for them to take cover.

It unleashes a round of bullets at the chair where only moments before Wonder Woman had been sitting and she swiftly jumps onto the table and removes the weapon. Having taken off her coat, the frightened people in the bar are amazed to see that it has been Wonder Woman sitting at the table all along!

She asks Gregory who else knew that they were planning to meet here? He tells her that nobody else knew and that U.N.R.E.S.T. must have even infiltrated the very inner circle of the “organisation”! Shiera asks him who this “organisation” is but he replies that he is not at liberty to explain but that he has been charged with Wonder Woman’s protection.

He flashes his card to the manager of the bar, telling him to send the bill for damages to that address and then escorts the two women outside. Wonder Woman tells him that she appreciates his concern over her welfare but that she has to alert the Justice League of the danger to their lives. To do that she must leave Washington. He replies that he will keep in touch and taking her hand, he tells her that his brother was right and that she is an exceptionally courageous woman.

The two women then walk off and soon disappear down a secluded alley, allowing Shiera to change into her Hawkgirl costume again. They decide that she will fly to Midway city to contact Hawkman while Wonder Woman heads for the JLA Satellite where Flash is on duty and can alert all the members of the Justice League at once.

But as Wonder Woman leaps up into her waiting plane her movements are being tracked through the cross hairs of a shoulder launched missile weapon. The unseen figure sees that she intends to leave the city and that somehow she has managed to contact another member of the Justice League. The figure then fires the deadly missile which heads directly for the invisible jet and Hawkgirl.

Both Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl pull up and avoid the projectile but it simply turns round and heads towards them again. No matter what they do they cannot shake it. Hawkgirl decides to take matters into her own hands and turns towards the missile but it ignores her and continues after Wonder Woman. The Amazon tells Hawkgirl to take the opportunity to escape and warn the JLA but she has no intention of leaving her friend to the mercy of the missile.

She grabs the nose cone and tries to steer it away but it throws her off balance and sends her falling towards the ground. Wonder Woman knows that Hawkgirl’s antigravity belt will prevent her from being harmed and turns her attention to the missile. She climbs out onto the wing and notices that the projectile changes course slightly towards her. She suddenly realises that it is headed directly for her bracelets and discovers a homing device planted on one of them. At the last second she manages to remove it and throw it away. The missile follows its path and detonates out of harm’s way.

She quickly flies down and catches up with Hawkgirl who is a little dizzy but otherwise unharmed. Wonder Woman tells her what has happened and that only one person could have managed to plant the homing device on her – Gregory Trevor! But while Gregory seems to be able to locate her so easily, how can she find him?

Hawkgirl replies that she can find him and when the Amazon asks her how, she explains that her special Thanagar contact lenses allow her to see heat and radiation trails. She can track the path of the missile back to its launch location.

Following the trail, they soon arrive at a section of apartment dwellings in downtown Washington DC. Hawkgirl points to a particular window and Wonder Woman dives down to attack.

Inside the room, Gregory is smiling as his monitor equipment confirms the detonation of the missile which he assumes has killed the two super heroines. Suddenly he hears the window shatter and is shocked to see those very same super heroines charging into the room!

The angry Amazon grabs him and demands to know why he did it. He replies that it is just as he told her except that he is the U.N.R.E.S.T. agent! As Hawkgirl destroys the rest of his equipment, Wonder Woman tells him that he is now no use to his group and that he may as well come clean and reveal the other agents. He responds that he is the group and that there are no others.

He explains that his brother was always in the spotlight and always had the glory. He was even going out with her, one of the super heroines, but now he was dead. He therefore wanted to destroy Wonder Woman and all those like her, but he realises now that it would not have brought his brother back from the dead.

Just then two men enter the room and say that they will take over from here. They explain that they are from the “organisation” and that Gregory really was in some sort of secret government branch and that they have been looking for him for some time.

With that they leave with Gregory and the two super heroines are left to ponder how Steve’s death must have made his brother crack somehow and take off on a one man crusade against the JLA using the “organisation’s” contacts and equipment.

A few days later after she has bid farewell to Hawkgirl, Diana Prince heads back to her New York apartment after an unsuccessful days job hunting. As she enters her building the doorman hands her a letter which has arrived by special delivery. She sees it is a reply to her application to join NASA and she wonders what their response is…