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The Mystery Deepens
2007-07-23 10:40:19
My anger has subsided, so I will release this week's excerpt. Welcome back! I see more new initiates as well, excellent. Many of you Americans enjoyed your little respite by firing off pyrotechnics. Should you make it through to membership in The Atlas Foundation, you will be able to create far greater explosions than that, I promise you.
Last week we left as the beautiful Venus was in a bit of a predicament. Study the mettle of these heroes well, there is much to learn from their adventure. Today you will need to ultimately find the keyword to take to your field representative to exchange for another. While you’re there, be so good as to preorder extra copies of AGENTS OF ATLAS #1, won’t you?
Mr. Lao
* * * * *
The chalky hand holding the dagger pushed through the water towards Venus. She darted from her position to another section of the pilot house. More shapes arose from the black, shapes she knew to be people possibly, but she couldn't make out anymore than that. She easily outmaneuvered them and found the door she swam in. One of the shapes was trying to close it, but Venus braced her foot against the wall and pulled with everything she had. Her would-be trapper fell away, and she made it back out to the Cutter's deck. Now the shapes started emerging from the doorway behind her, and she thought to ascend as fast as possible. Afraid these attackers would somehow be gone upon another investigation, she turned to get a look- maybe she would see something that would help her teammates with this stolen ship case. As they moved out into the light still being sent from Marvel Boy on the water's surface, their forms coalesced to reveal themselves. They were skeletons like the one who nearly ran the team down with a plane back at the shipyards. Upon visual identification, Venus' legs went stiff, and her arms stopped moving. The same hypnotic suggestion or whatever had bound them before was at work again. She also couldn't open her mouth to cry for help, and her friends likely wouldn't have heard that anyway.
The skeletons advanced. There were six- no, seven of them altogether. Three of them had daggers like the first had, one was carrying the blade clenched in its teeth. Venus thought of how much she relied on her sway over men in dealing with danger, and how at this moment it seemed to not even be a power at all. The skeletons now were only about fifteen feet away, lurching steadily forward. They had no ability to swim, but with little body mass to create resistance, they could walk almost as fast as they might on dry land. They were ten feet away when a large shape plunged between them and Venus, ringing a loud boom upon contacting the deck. As bubbles dispersed around it, it was clearly M-11. His torso turned to the side and his right arm extended twelve feet. Then his torso pivoted quickly in the opposite direction so that his arm shattered the skeletons in one movement. Skulls spun in an orbit and drifted out through the water. The effect on Venus ended and she began moving. Her first act was to try to hug the robot, but M-11's mass proved difficult to embrace. The robot turned its head and looked upward, and Venus realized that M-11 couldn't get back up to the ship. "Hang on," she said, though she wasn't sure if the robot could understand her speech here. She made her way quickly to the surface.
"Hey! Going my way?"
"Venus! Are you okay?"
"Yes, thanks to M-11. He came down just in time! There was a whole skeleton crew coming for me, and I couldn't move -just like before! But he broke up the party. Say, he can't swim-- do we have a way to bring him up?"
Gorilla Man hopped over to grab a steel cable and hit the release on the winch. "Here ya go. Take this down there and wrap it around him- hook it good, he's heavy!"
Venus took the cable back down to the Coast Guard Cutter's deck where M-11 stood as before. She wound the line around him under the arms and pulled the hook tight onto it. After she gave the cable a couple of tugs, Ken Hale began cranking the winch, soon using both arms once the slack went out of the line. Marvel Boy helped Venus back onto the hovercraft and the robot began to emerge from the sea. Jimmy Woo watched, and thought how much this Atlantean Princess Namora. The robot wasn't functioning then, and was covered with barnacles and other sea life that had attached to his body. This time was very different. Water rolled off the android, but none poured out from inside him. His head turned slightly to see where Gorilla Man was operating the much simpler machine that retrieved him now. The ape snapped his fingers as he held his hand out in the gesture of a pistol.
"That was a close one," said the woman as she raked salt water from her silvery hair.
"Yeah, sorry," said Jimmy Woo. "Not long after you went under, we were talking and then it occurred to us that if a skeleton could fly a plane, that might be what took the boat as well. Since M-11 clearly isn't affected, we elected him next to go down. Like Bob said earlier, he doesn't rust these days." Jimmy turned to the robot who was now coming to a stand on the hovercraft. "M-11, did you detect anything else down there-- besides skeletons, I mean?"
The cyclopic eye glowed slightly as M-11 made a rare utterance. He could speak, but no one could predict when it might happen. Such communications were almost always directed to Jimmy Woo.
"NO CARGO. NO FOREIGN MATERIALS. FUEL TANK EMPTY."
"Thanks," said Jimmy. "Not sure what to make of this, gang. A bunch of skeletons steal a ship, go until they run out of gas, then sink it."
"I have a theory," said Ken Hale, retracting the winch completely. "I think they had a diabolical scheme involving a fast ship, they took it, then forgot what the plan was because they don't have any brains in their heads!"
"I'm feeling like I don't either, right now." said Jimmy. "Okay, I don't think there's any more we can do here. Let's get the Navy their vessel back and tell them where the Cutter is. Though they'll probably just leave it here to become a reef."
The gorilla pulled the throttle back and the engines roared. The hovercraft lifted up noticeably, and the team made their way back to the mainland.
* * * * *
Later Jimmy Woo and his unusual band of Federal agents were mulling over the events of the morning at Ling's Tea Room. Jimmy poured another round of hot tea as he went over the details again. Bob Grayson waved for their regular waiter to see that his bowl was empty. The young man nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. "I don't know why they don't have sizzling rice on Uranus," said Marvel Boy as he spooned out the last bit. All our food there is the same texture." Since the formation of the team and establishing of the group in San Francisco where Jimmy had been based, Ling's had been a regular stop during their weekly duties. Ling was a family friend of Jimmy's and his restaurant was accessible through certain underground passages in the city that Marvel Boy and the Human Robot connected to their own base of the Federal Building. This allowed them to go to Ling's without too much attention, as the FBI had asked them to be discreet in public appearances. A private room in the back was always made ready for the group.
Jimmy took another sip of tea before speaking again. "Everytime we get a straight-on look at one of them, the spell kicks in. Or hypnotic suggestion. Whatever it is, we need to shake this thing off so M-11 doesn't have to do all the work when a skeleton shows up."
Marvel Boy looked to be preoccupied, touching his headband often. Whatever his concern was, it was put aside as the waiter brought him another bowl of sizzling rice soup. "Thank you," said the young hero.
"I know someone who may be of help, " said Venus. "This kind of thing is right up his alley. His alley is in Manhattan, though. "
"No problem when one our pals has a rocketship," said Gorilla Man through a mouthful of dumplings. Bob Grayson sat up more attentively, a bit surprised to hear Ken Hale refer to him as a pal. Maybe he had been taking the gorilla's ribbing too personally, as Jimmy often said. The colonists on Uranus didn't tease one another, as a rule, and the practice was alien to Bob.
"Great," said Jimmy. "Can you give him a call and let him know we'll be over soon?"
"He doesn't open for business until night time. And I don't think he has a phone, but he'll probably be there. I guarantee that when we show he'll say he was expecting us."
"Well, then we've got a few hours to kill. It may be a late night, so I'd suggest everyone take a nap when we get back to the building." Jimmy Woo then added: "Try not to dream."
* * * * *
No one saw Marvel Boy's rocket when it landed directly behind the Statue of Liberty. The Silver Bullet was a bit shorter than the copper-plated lady, and was well hidden by it at night. A private ferry came to take the group over to the main island, where a private cab was waiting to transport them the rest of the way. The driver had taken the odd bunch into town several times, but was still unsettled at having a gorilla in the front seat. He tried to focus instead on the young woman who smiled pleasantly at the sights outside her window. The oversized cab made its way up further to Midtown, and over to 387 Park Avenue. The Packard motored into an alley where it would wait for the five to return, and the team piled out.
Venus held Ken's arm on one side and M-11's on the other, and made a bounce like she wanted to skip down the street. "We're off to see the Wizard!" Hale made an amused grunt at her joke. "I ain't a lion, and I ain't cowardly. Or was he the one that needed a brain?"
"No, that was the Scarecrow- right?" offered Jimmy.
"Yes, and the Tin Man needed a heart." explained Venus.
"Just like ours," said Ken.
"Aw, ours does too have a heart!" said the young woman looking up at M-11. Marvel Boy didn't know what everyone was talking about, and made a mental note to ask later. He was more concerned that they were about to meet a practitioner of the occult, which he was never comfortable with. He liked things that were science-based, logical and orderly. After leaving Ling's he had confided in Venus that he felt he confused about his abilities. He thought he should have been able to undo the effect of the shared dream with his headband's help, but it seemed to be limited- unnaturally so. "It's an impressive piece of technology," he had told her. "But sometimes I think I'm not getting the full use out of it, like I'm wasting it." Venus assured him that everybody feels this way about their abilities at times. Bob Grayson thought that she didn't quite get his meaning and he didn't know how to express himself more clearly on the matter. Nonetheless, her assurance had consoled him some. The group had reached the top of a stairway, and stood outside a door with an onyx plaque. Engraved golden letters stated simply and directly:
MAGAR THE MYSTIC
Jimmy reached out to knock on the door, and it swung open quietly before his knuckles could connect. He looked back at the group and then back to the door. "Come in," said a measured voice. "You have been expected."
A sophisticated man wearing a suitcoat and a dark green turban appeared from around the corner. He knelt to kiss the back of Venus’ hand. "Good to see you again my dear. You honor me by bringing along such esteemed guests."
"These are my friends, Magar. I’m working with the FBI these days, and Jimmy Woo here is my team leader. The charming gorilla is Ken Hale, and you probably have heard of Marvel Boy before. Our personal Univac there is called M-11." Hands were shaken and the mystic led the group over to a round oaken table that had seven candles. Everyone but M-11 took a seat as Magar instructed. Magar said something quietly that no one could understand.
"Mister... Magar, we’ve recently been put under some kind of hoodoo," began Jimmy. "Somehow we all had the same dream of a skeleton, and now when we encounter them- which is surprisingly common lately, we freeze up. No one can move, except M-11 of course."
"Yes," replied the somber man. "You have been the targets of Dream Hypnosis- a very potent form of suggestion, since it is placed in the subconscious during deep sleep. I could see it when you entered, and I’ve already removed it."
"You saw it?" asked Marvel Boy.
"This practice leaves a psychic marker, if one is able to see such things. And I am. You each had a small floating skull beside the left temple. Dispelling the suggestion was a simple matter. And one that was more scientific in nature than magical, if that lessens your concern, Mr. Boy."
"It’s actually Grayson," returned Marvel Boy, "and are you reading my mind, now?"
"No, I read your face. It is very revealing." Bob Grayson felt a little embarrassed and yet relieved that his telepathic abilities seemed to still be unchallenged. Magar opened a brass box and took something out. When he turned around, he was holding a human skull.
"Move your arms please."
Each of the agents was satisfied to find full motion in any tested body part even as they stared at the skull. "Not bad!" said Ken. "Jimmy, slip this guy an extra Hamilton. Wait ‘til those bonebags try to get the drop on me again."
"Well great, I guess we don’t need to take up anymore of your time, sir." Jimmy Woo started to push himself up from the table and Magar held out a halting hand. "No one comes to Magar for mere jinx and hex removal. Any gypsy witch could do that." Marvel Boy frowned. "No, whether you know it or not, you have sought me out for greater answers. Please, enlighten me to your quest."
Jimmy sat back down and turned more towards the mystic. "Well, we’re investigating a number of stolen sea vessels, that all went missing at the same time. The one we’ve found so far was crewed by a group of living skeletons, I guess you’d call them."
"I have encountered such acolytes. In great numbers, they can be very dangerous."
"Tell me about it. I’m guessing the other ships were taken in a like fashion. So the reason for the hex is pretty clear. But we couldn’t find a reason for the theft."
"Ah," said Magar, now reaching to remove a thick piece of red velvet from an object on the table. From the size, Ken expected to see another skull. What he did see was a crystal ball, reflecting the candlelight of the table. The glints of light seemed to swirl inside the orb, moving as if by choice. Magar put his fingertips on either side of the sphere without touching it, and the clear ball became opaque, not mirroring the candles at all. "Venus may have told you of my gift- the ability to commune with the formerly living."
"Dead people, I call ‘em." Said Ken.
"It depends on your point of view. That is not my greatest gift, however. More valuable is the ability to know which ones to talk to. Merely being in a spirit realm doesn’t qualify a being to answer any question. More often than not, they seek answers from us. Since your mission concerns piracy, I believe it logical to go to the greatest of that number."
Magar began chanting words that Jimmy couldn’t understand and that seemed to make Venus momentarily dizzy. Clouds of obsidian formed inside the crystal and began to swirl at great speed. On Magar’s last word, the candles on the table flared a couple of feet high, producing a haze of smoke over everyone’s heads. Though the window by the bookcase was open, the soft night breeze didn’t affect the cloud, which now looked like the ones in the sphere. In the smoke a dark shape began to approach from some distance. Near it’s head were small flashes of light. At once the figure became clear, clothed in a long coat with its fists resting on a large belt around the middle. A scabbard hung from the being’s left hip, and its head sported a large hat with a curling side brim. The flashes of light were now distinguishable as burning matches twisted into the man’s thick black beard.
"YAHRR!!! Who be of such hardy stock that would summon the shade of Edward Teach!?"
"Dread specter, you are here at the request of Magar the Mystic. I summon you on behalf of these mighty heroes. They are the ones who have business with you."
"Ahrrh... such a motley bunch I’ve not seen in over two hundred years then," said the spirit, his eye widening as he looked around the table. Uncharacteristically, Ken Hale was unnerved by this development. He had assumed he was seeing something that worked like television, and wasn’t expecting the vision to acknowledge his own presence. The pirate then made an expression similar to the ape’s, and Ken followed his gaze to see that the object it studied was Venus. "Shiver me timbers."
"Great Captain," said Venus, even being sweet to the long dead Scourge of the Seas. "We are seeking stolen ships. We do not know the culprit, but he appears to be using magic. We cannot discern the motives either. The first vessel we found was sunk for no apparent reason. Can you offer insight?"
The thickly garbed spirit stared at her some more, and then resumed its former manner. "Remember lass, not all pirates steal for treasure, and not all commandeers mean to keep the ship. When me crew and I fired upon the HMS Scarborough the first time, we were not after the King’s Man O’ War. Me other vessel plundered two Merchant ships right out of port! Ha-har, ‘twas a good day!" Amused with his past victory, the pirate pulled out a long pistol and fired it off into the air with a loud report. Ken Hale noticed that an actual blast mark was left in Magar’s vaulted ceiling.
The boisterous pirate then broke into laughter and his image fade into the murky smoke.
"Now I’m more confused than before," said Jimmy.
"Spirits and oracles are rarely direct in communication. Being cryptic is how they judge the tenacity of mortals. When you begin to understand them, you often earn the bond of the spirit.
"Do I really want a bond with a murderous pirate?" asked Bob.
"That is always a question worth asking," said Magar with a smile. The smoke over the table began to drift apart, then stopped and began swirling. Another dark shape drew closer and an aged woman’s face appeared, her eyes wider than seemed possible. She had been groaning softly and now the sound built to a shriek as she blurted:
"WE RQSA JE MXUHU OEK VEKDT JXU HUT REN!"
The image then vanished and the smoke blew apart. The crystal ball became clear again.
"What was THAT?" asked Venus.
"Other spirits often invade openings to our world with their unwanted communications." Explained Magar. "I would pay it no attention."
The team got up from the table, each shaking hands with Magar while mulling over the visions just seen. As they walked out the door, Jimmy turned suddenly. "Oh, I’m sorry. How much does that session cost?"
"My services are always free to friends of the lovely Venus. Were it not for her powers of influence, I would be but a shrunken head hanging from a tree in New Guinea today."
"Thanks again," said Jimmy from the bottom of the staircase. They exited onto the street where the cab waited, its driver leaned back and snoring. No one noticed the shadow across the street studying the team intently.
* * * * *
I Am Greatly Displeased
2007-07-23 10:06:45
Can you imagine my furor when I awoke this morning? By Saturday you had all understood that the bonus task was to attend the Heroes Convention in Charlotte and give Namora's true name to artist Casey Jones. Yet no one could travel a mere 900 miles or more to carry out this simplest of tasks. In my rage I accidentally decapitated a loyal minion!
Since the main keyword was found, the mission excerpt for Week 4 will still be released- but for this, I shall delay it two days. I suggest you spread the word to new recruits, as we clearly need new blood.
We will speak again Friday. That is all.
Return To The Sea
2007-03-22 14:56:49
I believe I see new people entering The Temple today. Do not be shy, introduce yourselves. If you mentioned a secret word and received an answer recently, tell us of it.
Now I leave you to this week's classified excerpt. I'm sure with the help of our senior agents, the task will become clear soon enough.
When you're done here, why not put your employer's time to further good use by sharing the existence of AGENTSOFATLAS.COM?
* * * * *
The shining missile raced across 1200 miles of ocean, banked south, travelled 220 miles before heading east again. It kept up this path over the Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska in its search for the Natty Bumpo, the ship that had gone missing out of the Port of Seattle. At the port itself waited Jimmy Woo and his team of G-Men, investigating the area as Marvel Boy's headband periodically flashed to let him know another sector had been ruled out. All around the docks men lay back on whatever surface was comfortable, staring at the cloud formations.
When Jimmy Woo's team had arrived by rocket, the entire port buzzed with excitement, gathering around. Some had produced guns for fear of an attack. Unlike the similar visit at Hunter's Point, the Port of Seattle wasn't under Naval control and there were no orders given for the inhabitants to accept the strange visitors. When the hatch to the rocket opened and a one-eyed robot stepped out, every Saturday night drive-in movie with invaders from another world leapt to the minds of the Northwest workers. In seconds a hail of bullets ricocheted off M-11's body from all directions. The android's eye began to glow and its white light crossed the spectrum to red. The voice of Jimmy Woo blurted "M-11! Stand down! Do not attack!" The robot's eye returned to it's usual dim glow.
Then Marvel Boy had exited next, flying. This alarmed the men further and immediately the bullets went towards the moving target. Bob Grayson poured on the speed and raced out of range. Ken Hale was about to leap out from the rocket when Jimmy Woo pulled at his shoulder. "Come on, Ken. What do you think they're going to do when they see a big gorilla jumping out at them? You're not bulletproof like M-11!"
"Yeah, but I can outshoot any of those dockjockeys. All I gotta do is get hold of one gun..."
"No. Leave this to me." Jimmy pulled out his FBI identification and climbed up over the edge of the hatch.
"Look! The Reds are behind this!"
The hail of bullets returned low and peppered the spaceship where Jimmy Woo had barely gotten to look out. "You idiots! I'm FBI!"
Venus spun around in her seat and smiled. "Would you like me to wrap this up, or are we going to play Wild West all day?"
"We get so deep into missions that I don't watch a lot of television or read the papers. I forget how Cold War crazy the world is. Go on, take 'em out."
Venus pushed her hair back and tilted her head up. Even before her mouth opened Jimmy and Ken could feel the ethereal voice ripple through them. The air seemed to shimmer and sparkle as Venus' lone chorus began to permeate the port. Sounds of metal hitting the ground came from all around, and then she stepped out of the ship. The men who had been holding guns stood with their arms at their side or reaching before them. Their eyelids hung low, as did their jaws. Standing on the rocket Venus sang louder and the populace fell on their backs in a wave, like a stack of dominos that had been set in motion.
As the men of the area laid back seeing their deepest desires seemingly brought to life, Venus asked around about the ship that had gone missing the previous week. Within minutes she had ascertained the exact type of vessel that Bob Grayson would send his rocketship hunting. After that, the group looked around at the many ships and the massive cranes that would lower and raise their cargo. They only had to kill time for about ten minutes.
"I'm getting a message from the Silver Bullet!" said Marvel Boy. "It's located the ship about 650 miles to the southwest. It'll be back in a minute to pick us up." Jimmy got up and stretched. "That's one impressive wagon you have there, Bob."
Marvel Boy shrugged. "Actually it's kind of limiting. My father made it with the instructions he was given by the Uranian High Council, and I've improved upon it since. But I wouldn't have used the rocket design. I can't put it down just anywhere. The scanning range could be a lot better, and I could really use a meteor smasher on it. If I ever get some time, I'd probably start from scratch and work off the flying saucer model."
"Then everybody's gonna think you're a little green guy with a big head," returned Ken. "Stick to rockets, that's Earth-style." Grayson stood deep in thought as if he were planning the future saucer at that moment, and the Silver Bullet returned.
* * * * *
As the rocket approached the lifeless ship it slowed and fired hull nozzles so it could hover over the ocean surface, then went into a circling orbit around the vessel. At the next closest pass, the team jumped from the open hatch onto the ship's deck and the rocket pursued it's elliptical course.
"See, if I had a saucer, it could just hover there indefinitely. Right over this boat."
"If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a wonderful Christmas, flyboy. Okay, what are we looking for here, Jimmy?"
"Whatever the real reason for stealing a ship on the west coast was, before we went on that wild goose chase. I gotta say, we're up against some pretty sharp cookies this time. Usually the bad guys just have one goal with any given operation. These people hit about two or three birds with one stone. They got Bob away from helping the Space Center scientists to go after one of the missing ships. Which turned out to be a trap that almost got us killed, since they put a whammy on us in our sleep. Then we find out the FBI agents we met were fakes, and write off the whole thing as a decoy. Then it turns out even that was a trick, because this ship, the Natty Bumpo, actually went out to sea. You really can't take anything for granted with this outfit, they think things through. But I think it was all about whatever this ship was supposed to do."
"I've been thinking about that myself," added Ken, leaning on his knuckles. "The fake agents fed us some of the truth, which made it so convincing. Ships from all up and down the seaboard were taken. I don't think it was for smuggling now though. It looks to me like they wanted ships in the water ready to go, but they didn't know where they'd need them. So they covered all their bases. And whatever they were looking for, it turned up at this latitude."
Bob Grayson took mental notes as Jimmy and Ken threw out theories. Deceit and subversion were still largely foreign concepts to him, but his time on Earth was teaching him more on the matters every day. He still hadn't adopted what he thought of as the casual attitude his teammates seemed to have towards it all. Though he did like the problem-solving aspect that went with it.
Then skeletons began pouring over the deck, from the sides, hatches and pilot house.
"There's dozens of them!" shouted Venus.
"Hey bones!" blurted Gorilla Man as he grabbed a long pole. "Do I look frozen this time? Thought we'd be a bunch of sittin' ducks, huh?" The gorilla whipped the rod around quickly, knocking the skulls off six of the skeleton army. Several of the skeletons erupted from a deck door and began to lock their fingers around Venus' legs. "HEY! Someone! These guys don't have the right body parts for me to influence! " Within a second Venus felt something cold wrap around her waist, and then she rose quickly through the air. Once safely out of the grasp of her assailants, she realized that M-11 was holding her aloft with an extended arm. His other arm swept several of the undead off the side of the ship and into the waves. With no flesh on their frames, they sank into the deep blue.
One skull after another began to explode into white powder. Some were the result of Jimmy Woo's automatic gun, and others were from the laser blasts of Marvel Boy's wristbands. The skeletons stood briefly as if waiting for the return of their heads, then charged into battle again. Marvel Boy widened the field of his blasts and the tenuous cartilage that held the bodies together evaporated in the heat of his beams. Bones rolled over the entire deck until walking or running became perilous. Finally there was but one skeleton left, wielding an ornate dagger like the first one they had met, and the inventor of the Dream Ray later. Kenneth Hale leaped farther than his friends had thought possible and landed before the dagger's bearer. In one quick motion he pulled out the arm with the blade and slung it out into the sea. Then he brought his large forearm back and broke the creature's spine in half. Finally he grabbed the skull with a large hand and squeezed it. Bone shrapnel burst from the gorilla's grasp. Jimmy Woo winced as he touched at his own skull.
"Okay. I think we got the right boat this time," said Jimmy, stepping over bone shards. "Besides that it actually travelled a ways, our mysterious enemy made sure it had the most backup in case of trouble."
"I bet these creeps work cheap," said Hale, opening a deck door and poking his head down into it. His next words echoed in the hold. "If skeletons ever get unionized, then we'll have these bad guys where we want 'em. Hey, Living Laser–come over here and light up this cargo hold, please."
Bob Grayson floated over above the dark opening and drifted down, filling the area with golden light. He mused to himself how Ken's latest quip was in fact a pretty good name.
The hold was largely empty but for a couple of large pieces of metal at opposite ends of the room. As the team made their way inside, they took turns looking at what appeared to be wreckage of an odd sort.
Both pieces of metal were warped and charred on the outer surface. "It looks like it was blasted apart from the inside," said Ken. Marvel Boy put his fingers to the scorched metal. "These are radiation burns." Jimmy raised his palm. "Hey, maybe you guys should back away from that, it might be radioactive."
Grayson shook his head. "My headband would have picked up on that right away. You're right, it should be radioactive if it was bombarded like this, but it's not for some reason. Maybe something absorbed the radiation." Marvel Boy leaned over and put one piece of the wreckage next to the other and looked back at his team. "I thought this looked familiar."
The caped man carried one piece of metal over to the next, and put the halves together. He turned around, holding the heavy assemblage in front of him.
"It's a cone." said Venus.
"A nose cone!" clarified Ken Hale.
"Right. It's the nose cone of a rocket. One I tried to locate for the folks at the Marshall Space Center. But when I went up to scout for it, it was gone. See, look." Marvel Boy pointed at the charred but still readable name stamped on the metal cone. It read:
* * * * *
Back Into The Field
2007-03-22 14:44:46
The Temple is intact. As you may know, our base is perilously close to a fault line and is thus subject to seismic activity. It corresponds appropriately that Timely was having a devilish time with their network servers during this. One of you has mentioned that there should have been two keywords last week, and this is true. Yet I am not about to leave our precious training sessions to the hazards of the inter-net. If we need to take more time to tell our story, then so be it. Those of you who are armchair agents may grow impatient this week, as we are focusing again on field work. We need operatives willing to brook gunfire, after all! I assure you we will return to the conundrums soon enough.
I believe you will be able to discern your objectives without any coercing from me.
* * * * *
Outside the building in Huntsville, a silvery craft lowered gradually to the testing launch pad. From the windows, men in short sleeve dress shirts were scribbly madly upon notebooks and clipboards, noting details like the lack of smoke from the Silver Bullet's flaming retrorockets. The vessel then lowered forward slowly by means they couldn't determine and came to rest on the asphalt as airplane might.
One female lab assistant gave the scientists an incredulous look and then scribbled on another piece of paper with a large marker. She then pressed the piece of paper against the glass so that Jimmy Woo's team might look up and see her brief but clear message of HELP. Jimmy was already looking at the source of her distress. For a second he had thought that the parking lot ended a ways from the Marshall Space Center then realized that what he assumed was foliage was moving. The dark green shapes filling the space between the scientists' cars and the front door was overrun by hundreds of alligators. Several engineers sat or stood atop their vehicles, unable to enter the workplace and now afraid to step down to open their driver's side doors.
"I didn't know alligators lived this far north," said Venus.
"You're not more impressed that they're all working together?" asked Ken Hale. Jimmy shouted over to one of the men perched nervously atop a Buick Sedan. "What's going on with all these gators?"
"This has happened a couple of times already this week," returned the man, steadying himself. "I don't know if they're looking for food or what, but we're losing valuable work time and falling behind schedule. I haven't heard of it happening anywhere else in town. Or the whole state, for that matter."
Jimmy turned to Marvel Boy. "Bob, could any of the equipment they're working with in there be attracting the animals?" Bob Grayson looked at the complex and his headband glowed briefly.
"No."
The dark green mass kept moving around the building's perimeter, forming what was essentially a reptilian moat. Jimmy looked around and noticed a pickup truck in the parking lot, its driver still inside. "Sir," called Jimmy. "May we use your truck for a minute? I think we can get you back to work." The man nodded anxiously. Jimmy spoke quickly to M-11, who then proceeded to where the truck was parked. The robot extended his arms and picked the truck up, walking carefully to not step on any of the alligators. His course took him by each trapped scientist, who then jumped into the bed of the truck. The ape shook his head.
"You know, years ago I would have just broke out the guns and we'd be cornering the market on alligator-skin boots right now. I guess I'm getting soft in my old age."
"Or maybe your perspective has changed a bit," said Venus. Having collected all the space center technicians, M-11 walked the truck over to the front steps and held the rear of it a few feet from the door. A woman inside opened the door and the engineers quickly rushed in. Marvel Boy held one arm around Venus and flew her into the entrance as well. "Wait up!" shouted Ken Hale, who took a running leap that got him to the branch of an oak tree by the entrance. He swung to and fro for a few seconds to build up momentum, then released to land on the hood of the truck. He climbed over into the building, making a mock salute at his mechanical teammate as he did so. Jimmy walked back to the edge of where the alligator mass began, having thoroughly checked the area for any more stranded workers.
"Looks like everyone's in the clear- hey! Some team you are, I'm still out here in gatorland!" Jimmy looked down as some of the reptiles began to advance in his direction. He knew one of the group would realize his absence in a minute, but decided not to wait. He ran forward and leapt into the swarm, using the backs of the alligators as stepping stones. It took him five jumps to reach the door, and he closed it from the inside as several very agitated beasts charged towards it.
* * * * *
Jimmy and his team spent the next hour going over the work the Space Center had been doing lately. "We've been expecting spies," explained Chief Engineer John Siuntres. "But we weren't quite ready for nature itself to turn against us. Mankind's quest into space is hitting enough snags without all these extra obstacles in our path."
The gorilla snorted as he drank coffee from a paper cup. "It's not just bad luck, Doc. The gators are someone's big idea of sabotage, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that." Ken Hale took another sip of coffee and then became aware of the leers aimed at him from around the operations center. "Oh yeah. I guess all you guys are rocket scientists."
"I agree with Ken, Doctor, " said Jimmy Woo. "We've had a lot of unlikely stuff happen to us lately that has turned out to be related. I believe someone doesn't want you making any progress, and they don't want Bob here helping you out."
"We've barely even made use of Marvel Boy's knowledge, " said the flustered scientist. "All we really asked was that he go up and check out the Sputnik satellites to see if the Soviets were much ahead of us." An aide entered the room and whispered something to Dr. Siuntres.
"It seems Assistant Director Wall from the FBI has sent a transmission for you," explained the doctor. "I'll go down to the radio room and bring back what the lab boys taped. Excuse me."
As the scientist left the room, Bob Grayson felt something tugging at the bottom of his cape. He turned to see a boy of about nine. "Mr. Marvel Boy! Will you sign my comic?" His father leaned over from a nearby console. "Sorry. I bring him to work a lot and I guess he heard us mention that you were coming to visit. Caleb, they're here on important business."
"The future leaders of this planet are pretty important business too," said Marvel Boy with a big smile. He kneeled down and shook hands with the boy.
Ken Hale stared at the cover that had an image of his caped teammate fighting mutant cavemen. "Wha... you got a comic book? When did this happen?"
"It was a few years back," answered Grayson as he scribbled a message on the cover of the periodical. "The Uranian High Council suggested I try to appear in Earth media to build a good reputation in society. They thought it would make my work easier. While on a case in New York one time I ran into some nice gentlemen named Bill and Joe who said they'd love to create a book for me at the company they worked for. It was..." Marvel Boy searched his memory for a moment before rolling his eyes at how dense he was being. He looked down at the cover of the comic. "Timely. Anyway, the whole point was to let people know the Uranians were nothing to be scared of and that I'm available to help in really dangerous situations."
"I don't remember hearing about this," said Jimmy.
"That's because it didn't work. It had the opposite result. People who saw me assumed I was promoting the comic book, and that I was using special effects to fly. I thought once they saw it in print they would accept the facts, but it seems books work differently here."
"Welcome to Earth, headband. Can I see that, son?" Ken Hale reached for the comic and the boy handed it over, delighted that a gorilla had just spoken to him. As the ape flipped through it, the youngster walked around behind him and looked on his back for a zipper.
Ken was engrossed in the boy's comic. "Heh. Look, the speech bubbles have ya saying 'gosh' all the time."
"That's called a word balloon, Ken," corrected Venus.
"Oh yeah, you worked as an editor for a while, guess you'd know."
"Well, that was for Beauty magazine. That reminds me, I should check up on Whitney. I mainly focused on interviews, we didn't run any comics except single panel gags. I just remember that term from when Timely printed my comic book."
The gorilla looked around as if he just found himself in a new place. "What... you had one too? Next I'm gonna find out you guys all had movie deals and didn't tell me." He looked behind him at the robot that stood unmoving, and rapped his knuckles on M-11's chest. "I guess we don't rate, huh?" The mechanical man gave his usual response of silence. Dr. Siuntres returned to the room.
"Okay, Mr. Woo, here's the audio we were sent." The man with glasses opened what looked to be a briefcase and drew out a thick electrical cord which he plugged into the wall. A click of a toggle switch started two tape reels turning. Jimmy leaned in to listen. First there were hisses and pops, then several bursts of what sounded like a human voice underwater. It did indeed sound like gibberish or something that had been mangled in transmission. As the sounds faded out, the scientist shut off the tape player. "And that's it. I wouldn't have wasted your time with it, but we don't want the Bureau to think we're not trying to cooperate."
"Thanks," said Jimmy. "It wasn't a waste of time Dr. Siuntres. That's the way they often send us transmissions. Okay, M-11, play it back, please."
The robot's visor flashed a couple of times, and then an internal speaker played the message from the tape, now unscrambled.
---THIS PORTION OF THE EXCERPT IS ON FILE IN THE ARCHIVES---
Jimmy Woo turned to Ken Hale. "Well, that's pretty interesting, huh?" The ape nodded. "We better check it out."
Dr. Siuntres pushed his glasses back up his nose as the strange crew departed.
* * * * *
The Book.
2007-03-22 14:20:01
Our wait is at an end tomorrow. The team we have been following in these procured FBI files of the Atomic Age will return to play a substantial role in the modern world, and AGENTS OF ATLAS will document those events. It so happens that the first issue will also provide one of this week's keywords. That word will be obvious to those reading today's excerpt...
* * * * *
Morning began at the "It's Tops" Diner down on Market. M-11 had already left in the back of a truck with Bureau drivers who would take him to Chabot Observatory in Oakland, where Marvel Boy's rocket was hidden. There he would he would clamp his large feet into two recessed areas of the cockpit and await the other's arrival at the Silver Bullet. Back in the city, Venus lowered a new pair of sunglasses before her eyes. "Lamp my specs, boys, they're all the rage in Italy."
"Venus, you don't really have to tell people to stare at you. It just kind of happens." Ken Hale pulled his porkpie hat down lower on his head. "Don't hide yourself, I need you to draw attention away from me."
"Aw, thanks Ken."
Jimmy Woo's agents dressed in civilian apparel so as not to attract attention. Ken Hale wore a hat, sunglasses, and a trenchcoat with the collar flipped up, and he still got looks at 7 in the morning. Their favorite waitress Edie led them to the most private booth in the restaurant, though it still was near a window. Jimmy Woo tapped at his own forearm as he spoke to his friend. "How's that arm this morning, Ken?"
The gorilla pulled back his sleeve to show a nearly perfect simian arm. "Barely even a scar now."
"Whatever the poison was on that blade, it must not be as strong as the ancient curse that makes you a gorilla," said Bob Grayson.
"You mean the blessing that keeps me from having to be a man?" The ape worked his way into the clamshell booth and rested his long arms on the backs of the padded seats. Though it was no secret that Ken Hale longed to be human again, he almost never complained about his condition around the team. In his days as a Soldier of Fortune, Hale was known to walk around with serious injuries that he would hardly mention. Still, Jimmy knew that the brief moment of humanity had only rekindled Hale's hopes before dashing them again. Picking up a newspaper that someone had left on the table, Jimmy saw something that would surely take the ape man's mind off his condition for a bit.
"Hey Ken, you haven't seen the paper since we left the other day, have you?"
"Nah, I'm giving up on reading. It's overrated."
"You don't have to read. Here. Just look at this photograph."
Jimmy slid the sports section into the gorilla's field of view. Hale looked down to see a horse with a smiling jockey on its back, and a large horseshoe shaped collection of roses around the animal's neck. Ken Hale stared blankly at the image, and then his eyes widened to offer the rare view of white around his pupils.
"Tim Tam! He did it! Ho boy, look at that! YEAH!"
Any effort to be inconspicuous was dropped as Hale went on for the next ten minutes about the Kentucky Derby, horses and racing in general. Then he leapt over the table and grabbed his hat from the hook on the wall.
"Hey, where are you going?" asked Jimmy. "We've got to get to the rocket after breakfast and head out to the Space Center."
"I'll meet you there! My bookie has something for me--Scratch that. He's got a LOT of something for me!" With that the ape rushed out the door and loped quickly up the street. From the window Jimmy watched his friend amble away, and took a drink of his coffee. Over the edge of the cup he noticed something through the glass. Across the street, a man in a dark coat and cap watched the ape as well, and pulled his lapel out to speak discreetly. Jimmy could see a small transmitter with an antenna just inside the man's coat. Woo erupted from the booth and ran through the door.
"Jimmy, what's up?" asked Venus, too late to be heard.
The man with the transmitter saw Jimmy Woo coming through the doorway of the diner and ran. He made his way down the block and turned, and then crossed the street. Jimmy Woo was closing the distance quickly when the man ran into a small brick and iron structure. It was an entrance that led below street level, possibly a train access. The door clicked shut just as Jimmy reached it. Jimmy pulled on the handle but it wouldn't budge, having been locked from within. Marvel Boy flew down with Venus on his arm.
"Jimmy, what is it?"
"Some guy was spying on us, and reporting in to somebody," said Jimmy who was now kicking at the lock. Finally he produced his gun from his jacket and shot the handle. The door swung open.
The three ran down a long series of steps. The stairway was pitch black, but Marvel Boy's wristbands soon made it as bright as the street above. "How deep does this go?" asked Venus.
"It's probably an old unused train entrance." said Jimmy, skipping steps to move faster. "We've gone much lower than the platform would be though. I know there's tunnels under the city, but they're not supposed to be this far down." The group emerged in a large area of tiled wall. A quick look around revealed no exits or even vent shafts that someone could climb through.
"We didn't run past any doors did we?"
"No."
The three grew quiet and listened. No footfalls or breathing. Jimmy saw a faded image on the large wall. Walking closer he could see that it was an antiquated version of the globe, held by the kneeling god Atlas. He touched the wall, which was covered with dust.
"I feel like I should know some magic word. Open sesame." The wall and its artwork remained still and silent.
* * * * *
The Liar And The Truthteller
2007-03-22 13:51:44
Retrieving this week's keyword will be a brief mission, as the field work may take some time. So let's pick back up at the Federal Building in San Francisco where Jimmy Woo's team are examining a most unusual device...
* * * * *
"Brain tissue?" asked Venus, clearly repulsed.
"Yes- a brilliant if crude solution," replied Marvel Boy as he looked at the machine that had been influencing their dreaming minds. "Earth simply doesn't have very sophisticated means of computing yet. Your greatest computer is the size of a small house and can barely calculate a square root. Data is stored on tape reels and one has to enter commands with a punch card. Seriously, a child with an abacus can do as much."
Gorilla Man leered as he finished bandaging his arm. "Is all this anti-Earth propaganda going somewhere, or are you just cranky from being woke up at 3 AM?"
"I'm getting to it, Ken. So, to transmit specific imagery- as in a scenario where snakes bind you when a skeleton appears, say- you would need something to store those images. Dragging an enormous computer around would be nearly impossible. So what someone did with this device was use organic data storage from the greatest computer the planet has available... the human brain."
"Holy smokes," said Jimmy. "I wonder how they put the dream into the piece of brain in the first place?"
"The former owner of the brain merely observed the scenario. Then where the memory is stored, we extract tissue." Jimmy and the others turned in the direction of the new voice. It was the man Jimmy had knocked unconscious minutes ago. Ken Hale scooped him up and held him tightly by the shirt collar. The man's face looked considerably redder as he did so.
"All right, you! What's this all about? What are you trying to pull here?"
"I have very little hearing due to... alterations made upon me. So that I would not be susceptible to the young lady's power." The man seemed oddly calm, resigned in fact. "I can only read your lips and the gorilla is too difficult for me. If you have questions, they should come from one of the others."
"You say the brain tissue came from someone who saw the imagery?" asked Marvel Boy.
"Yes. We have many Datamen. They exist to use their senses to record information for us. Early on the process almost always necessitated the tissue donor's death, but now we have it refined. They all have artificial access ways riveted to the backs of their skulls, and special liquids help them regenerate new brain tissue. This works even better. After a few transfers, the Datamen have no memories of their own that could possibly interfere with the intended storage." The little man sat up more now, as if proud of this development.
Venus looked aghast. "Whoever you people are, you're monsters."
The man seemed puzzled at her judgment. "We only use indigents and drifters. No one who matters to society or the economy."
"Oh, well that's better." said Gorilla Man. "For a moment we were afraid you were up to no good. Okay Jimmy, let's turn him loose."
"Take that act to the Poconos, Ken. Okay pal, now who were these Derskin and Oglethorpe guys that started us on the goose chase?"
"Those are their names, Mister Woo. They just do not work for the Federal Bureau, as you have surmised by now. Their purpose was to lead you away from paths that would have crossed with our own. You cannot combat this organization as you might ordinary criminals. Our planning is very layered and has many fail-safes built in."
"For someone who was willing to kill himself to evade me, you're being pretty helpful now," said Marvel Boy.
"Because it doesn't matter now. Now that you have captured me, my life is forfeit. I may as well tell someone the wonders and horrors I have seen in my time with the Foundation. I don't think I realized until now just how much I wanted to share the arcane knowledge I have acquired." The strange man looked aside a moment, then spoke again. "It must be a similar thing with monks who have taken a similar vow of secrecy."
"Brother!" said the ape. "Now this guy thinks he's practically clergy! Come on, let's go introduce him to Jonas Salk and see if he'll share his Nobel Prize!"
"Salk didn't get the Nobel Prize, remember?" clarified Bob.
"Then he was robbed." grunted Ken.
"He is indeed a brilliant man, and we are already putting his immunization work to good use." countered the man, who was able to pick up on Hale's last statement thanks to the especially animated delivery. "I do envy him the public acknowledgment of his achievements. I shall die soon with no one knowing the leaps I made in developing the Dream Ray. Likely, the existence of the machine will never be public at all." The man seemed to be unaware of the others around him at this point, having a dialogue with only himself. "Still, I have always been well funded by the Foundation, and have had all the test subjects I needed. Not many scientists can say that."
"So what is this Foundation?" asked Jimmy, kneeling before the man. "What do they not want us to interfere with?" He waited what seemed an interminable period, staring at the man's glassy eyes. Jimmy finally realized that the eyes hadn't blinked in almost a minute. He reached out and touched the scientist' shoulder, and the man slumped over. In the moonlight from the still open window, the feathery plume of a dart could be seen at the middle of the man's neck.
Jimmy bolted up to look out the window, then stepped aside just as quick with the realization that he could be the next target of a dart. Bob Grayson raised his arm and projected a bright beam of light to the buildings across the street, scanning for movement in any of the windows. Seeing no movement he dived down to street level and began circling the blocks. The bustling city was unusually quiet. Finally he returned to the large open window to see Venus checking at the man's wrist and neck.
"I'm not finding the pulse."
"Well I couldn't find a suspect, so we're even," said Marvel Boy. "It's like a ghost killed him."
"So we're back to where we were, with diddly-squat to go on," said Ken, scratching at his itching forearm.
"No, we're not totally licked," said Jimmy Woo, walking over to shut the windows. "M-11, could you take this body downstairs to the infirmary?" The robot scooped up the corpse, carried it into the private elevator and down to the third floor. Jimmy stared out the window for a minute and then turned around.
"He said these people were worried about our paths crossing. What path were we on? It makes me think he was referring to what Bob was doing when he arrived the other night." Jimmy walked a few steps from the window as if he were retracing Marvel Boy's actions. "You had been to the new Space Administration in Huntsville."
Bob Grayson's headband pulsed quickly as he looked up at Jimmy. "You mean because I was advising on the space program."
"Right. I'm thinking that's what this is all about. Those fake FBI agents showed up, then I called for you to come back because there was suddenly a case to work on. Now, somebody is going to great lengths to pull off this caper, and they're obviously pretty dangerous with magic and science."
"That's for sure," said Venus. "If these people have the kind of science like this ray gun, they might not want competition like the new space agency will create."
"It's... the Russians..." said Ken, with his head much lower than usual. He wobbled forward as if his feet weren't finding the floor easily. His massive frame began to sway from side to side. "No good... I shoulda known... they got that Sputnik..." Hale then reached out his hand to Jimmy Woo's shoulder to steady himself, and fell anyway- bringing Jimmy to the floor with him.
"Ken! Are you okay?"
The gorilla's eyes rolled around, not focusing on any one thing. Jimmy looked at the bandage, which was pulled open a bit, enough to show Ken's blood bubbling into a froth around the knife wound.
"The knife!" shouted Venus. "It must have had poison on it!" She grabbed a glass of water from Jimmy's desk and poured it on the wound, trying to flush out the toxic chemical. Ken Hale's chest began to heave up and down in large motions.
"Bob! Can you do something?"
"Marvel Boy looked at a loss, kneeling over his teammate. "I... I can't... it seems like I should know how but-"
Grayson was cut off by a loud howl, much higher pitched than any Gorilla Man had made before. The sound then receded as if he were moving into the distance. At the end of it, the team could only hear a small gurgling. The ape's eyes went still and his limbs stopped where they were. Jimmy grabbed one of the massive arms and shook it. "Come on, big guy! Come back! You can fight it!"
A strange sensation played at Jimmy's palm. Where he held the gorilla's arm, he began to feel less fur in his hand. The form he touched also seemed to be moving inward. Looking to Hale's face, Jimmy saw the massive brow begin to recede, along with all the dark hair. His snout sunk in and lips began to form. Ken's whole body shrunk in size, though the form it took was big for a man, with muscular forearms and a square jaw. Ken Hale had once showed Jimmy a picture of himself when he was still human, and that was the face they all now saw.
Venus looked up to Jimmy and Bob, her eyes shimmering with tears that hadn't yet escaped.
"He's dead."
The teammates stood in shock over the human form of Ken Hale, and Jimmy Woo became aware of an impact repeating against the floor. It was M-11, who had walked quickly across the room and now stood at Hale's feet. His arm extended down, the hand halting over Hale's chest. Then two of the robot's fingers extended as well, connecting at symmetrical points on the upper chest. The cyclopic eye began to glow.
"700 VOLTS."
Ken Hale's body lurched where current entered his body. Venus jumped.
"M-11! What are you doing!?"
Marvel Boy looked up, wide eyed. "Get out of his way! Let him do this!"
"1000 VOLTS."
The body now jerked up even more, causing Hale's arms to swing outward. Jimmy Woo's eyes raced between the figure on the floor and the machine known as the Human Robot.
"1400 VOLTS."
At this discharge, the body arched all the way up off the floor. The robot's eye grew brighter, and then his arm retracted to it's regular position. Ken Hale's eyes began to flutter, and his arm slid to the side. He coughed a large burst of air, then drew in an equal volume of oxygen. His eyes opened to see his four teammates looming over him. Wiping at his face he realized he was using a very naked looking hand. He held it further away to focus better, and then brought his other hand up to his face as well. He looked over his forearms for the dark chestnut fur that usually covered his body to see nothing but the skin of a man.
"You did it, M-11!" shouted Venus, who tried to hug the large robot. Jimmy Woo ran over from his desk with a glass of water and held it to Hale's mouth.
"Here buddy, take a drink."
Ken Hale raised his head and neck and braced himself on one elbow. He drank the whole glass down in seconds and gasped, then wiped at his small brow again. "I'm... I'm..."
Before he could reach his next word, he felt the strange sensation of his neck growing wider. He felt his body raise from the point where his elbow rested on the oak wood planks as his upper arm lengthened. His mouth pushed out and his nose flattened as it did. He had the sensation of sinking into himself from his eyes as his brow protruded. His wide field of vision was again restricted to the point where he'd have to turn his head to easily see an object at his side. His wide nostrils issued a loud sigh and he raised himself up on his knuckles. The ape's head hung low for a moment, and then came back up. He moved a couple of steps forward to where M-11 stood and rested his massive hairy hand on the robot's shoulder. Venus wiped tears from her eyes with big motions of her arm and then buried her cheek in the furry shoulder of her friend. Marvel Boy stood up and smiled at the robot, resting his hands on his belt. Jimmy Woo leaned back from his position on the floor against the nearby chair and exhaled as if he hadn't been breathing for several minutes.
* * * * *
UPDATE: So. BORAX unlocked only enough of the excerpt to leave us with the notion that Jimmy Woo's team had suffered a great setback, but SPUTNIK shows us that they are even more resourceful than we may have imagined. Welcome aboard, Ted Scott and Calvin Marsh. You will all receive more information soon.
Your Humble Servant,
Mr. Lao
----------------------------------------------------------
PREVIOUS CLOSING REMARKS:My apologies for stopping in mid-story like that, but the nature of our exercise this week requires it.
You have now learned about one of The Atlas Foundation's favorite tools, The Dream Ray. Naturally the version we use these days is much more powerful. One would never have to set up the device as close as a nearby building to put suggestions in the mind of the target, but that was the 1950s for you.
You may have reasoned that this is the way we coerce Timely creators to tell the kinds of stories we believe the readers should follow. AGENTS OF ATLAS is being written and drawn by two such unwitting dupes, thanks to this "influential" technology! That brings us to our latest mission. Many of you will be traveling to the lower western United States for the international convention of popular culture (that still quaintly mentions Comics in its title). While there, you can obtain member status by retrieving a keyword. You'll have to present the password to our creative lackeys, wherever they might be. I'm sure you'll soon figure out the password after reading this week's mission excerpt.
The difference is this: one of the creators will lie to you. Only one has the correct keyword. Upon reporting the word you were given, the rest of today' s file will be released. Depending on the word first given, you will either receive the correct story or an alternate version. Even if you find both creators and thus acquire both keywords, you may only guess one. Though should it turn out to be false, you may send the alternate word to another agent.
And now, to work! Some of our lurkers come solely to read the agents' adventures, you know.
Your Humble Servant,
Mr. Lao
A Most Useful Device
2007-03-22 13:33:53
Greetings, newcomers. You need only read from our previous meetings to understand what we do here at The Temple. This week you will read the fifth excerpt from FBI files that have fallen into our hands, and then go in search of hidden keys. This week's key to be taken to field agents near you (you do have a local "comics shop", don't you?) will combine with their response to form a phrase.
Some of our Agents-in-Training have advanced in merit enough to assist you as advisors. Heed the lessons they have learned. Every mission here provides insight into the way we at The Atlas Foundation operate, and you can never read these documents too thoroughly.
That said, I think you shall have an easy time this week.
Your Humble Servant,
Mr. Lao
* * * * *
Jimmy Woo wound his watch as he and his team walked back to the cab that awaited them. "Okay everyone. Let's hightail it over to Lady Liberty and catch the Silver Bullet. We can put in some facetime at the Bureau in the morning, see if they've turned up anything." Suddenly a flash went off from across the street, and everyone but M-11 recoiled at the bright light. The robot shined a light of its own at the tall dark-haired man with the camera, and the beam grew brighter. "Wait M-11, it's just a photographer, turn down your ray." This came from Marvel Boy, whose eyes were used to adjusting fast to sudden changes in light. The man stood in place as the group approached him, realizing that fleeing would be useless anyway.
"Say, why are you lurking around here snapping our photo?" asked Jimmy Woo.
"Kind of obvious, isn't it? I mean, I don't know who you- people- are, but you look like news to me," answered the burly young man. "I haven't been back in the states for a while, but last I heard it was still a free country."
"You're... Pat, right?" asked Gorilla Man. The man with the camera was stunned.
"Uh. Yeah. That's right. How do you know-"
"You used to hang around Jann of the Jungle some, I think."
"Yeah, good ol' Jann!" said the man, relieved. "We saw some gorillas together, but never one who talked! I haven't seen her in a while, do you know how she's doing?"
"She seemed fine when I saw her last. She's the reason I'm working with this bunch. That's a nice one. Can I see that?" Surprised to have found someone who knew of him, the man called Pat handed over his camera with almost no consideration. Ken Hale looked at the device for a minute, then crushed it in his hand.
"You wanna shoot wildlife, head back to the Congo. Now beat it." Ken turned and climbed into the cab. Venus made an apologetic shrug before Pat, who stood with his mouth open. Jimmy Woo turned quickly so no one could see him stifle a laugh.
* * * * *
Upon touchdown at the secret location in Arlington, Virginia, a government driver pulled up to escort Jimmy Woo's team in to the District of Columbia. Assistant Director Wall welcomed the five at the front door of the Department of Justice Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, making several quick asides to employees warning them not to stare. Once in Wall's office everyone sat down except M-11, who stood vigilantly at the window. "Good to see you again, Agent Woo. So what brings the FBI's top dog unit to our offices?"
"Thought we'd see if you boys have made any progress on this stolen ships case your agents brought to us," said Jimmy as he leaned back in the leather chair.
Wall stared at Jimmy Woo blankly as if waiting for more information that never came. "Stolen ships."
"Yeah, the ships that all went missing at once last week. Derskin and Oglethorpe gave us a file full of photos and notes."
"Derskin and Oglethorpe."
Gorilla Man was growing annoyed at Wall's unresponsiveness. "You know, that Abbot and Costello team who works outta here. Short stocky guy and a taller one."
"We don't have any men working out of this branch by that name."
"Could you look through your files?" asked Jimmy, now leaning forward in his chair.
"I don't have to. I know every agent in Washington, and we don't have any named Oglethorpe or Derskin. When did these men come to you?"
Jimmy felt blood drain from his face and was uncharacteristically uncomfortable. "I don't get it. The front desk in the Federal Building sent the guys up like business as usual. " The arm of the chair Ken Hale sat in crunched under his grip. "Somebody played us like prize chumps! I knew I didn't like those guys. I should have shook 'em down for more I.D."
"I blame myself," said Marvel Boy. "I could have scanned their minds and picked up any deception."
"You came in late," reminded Venus. "When you arrived we were already talking to them like it was official business- you had no reason to be suspicious." Jimmy hopped up from his chair, now much more animated. "That's right. In fact, one of the men started in on an argument with Bob almost as soon as he got in. Probably to keep him on the defensive and too busy to use his headband." The young agent paced around the desk and came to a stop next to the Human Robot. "Somebody sent us on a wild goose chase. For what? We weren't working on a case at the moment."
"They wanted us dead," said Ken matter-of-factly. "The skeleton pilot was supposed to take us out, and if that didn't work, there was the backup of the ones on the Coast Guard cutter. All ready to work because of the dream whammy they threw on us. Classic villain stuff- everybody wants us dead because we're good guys. End of story."
Venus countered in her manner that never gave offense. "No, anyone who would plan so well as to sneak in fake agents, plant a suggestion in our subconscious minds, and hide an animated skeleton at the Naval Shipyards - - that planner would certainly take into account the robot on our team who wouldn't be affected by the magic."
Assistant Director Wall took a bromo-seltzer out of his desk drawer and poured it into a glass of water. "You people lost me back at the skeleton pilot."
* * * * *
The gleaming rocket soared above an ocean of clouds. Its chrome surface took on the golden hues of sunset- a sunset that stretched on much longer than usual since The Silver Bullet was on a westward trajectory. Inside the large cockpit of the craft, the pilot fussed with the instrument panel, though he had already programmed the course into the guidance system and didn't need to do anything else. Jimmy Woo sat in the copilot's seat with his face firmly lodged against his hand as he stared out the window. "If you look on Monitor 8 you'll see the Mississippi river below." said Marvel Boy.
"Fascinating," returned Ken Hale, who spun around in his seat and got up. He walked over to the Preservation Cell, a trunk-sized refrigerated chamber that Marvel Boy used when procuring organic samples for study. The ape reached his arm in and pulled out a small bottle of Coca-Cola. "Anyone else want one?"
Bob Grayson grimaced slightly at Ken Hale's misuse of his equipment, then raised his hand. The variety of flavors on Earth still fascinated him, and he rarely passed up an opportunity to taste anything. For some time no one said anything. Then Jimmy got up to go get a drink as well, and Venus smiled, realizing her team leader was starting to emerge from the dark mood he had been in since the D.C. visit.
"Sorry I've been such a pill, everybody." Jimmy said. "I've been worried that Jerry back in Washington thinks we're losing it. I guess it's inevitable when you get talked up as much as we do- everybody slips up some time. I just want you to know the blame lies squarely with me."
"Hey buddy, we're not worried what they think. Well, I'm not. And I'm sure the robot isn't."
Venus chimed in too. "Besides, we've got some clout built up. We did rescue the President after all. That should be good for something."
Ken grew more animated. "Yeah, the pressure oughta be on him! What's he been doing since then? All I ever hear about is new places he's played the back nine."
As usual, Bob Grayson missed the ape's gruff joke and gave an actual answer. "He does have a plan in effect to create a new highway system. If you ever plan to motor west, multiple interstate roads will allow for a straight drive."
"You sure get a lot of weird facts from The Silver Bullet," said Hale as he swigged his soda.
"I didn't get that from the ship's computer, I read it in the New York Times while we were there-after I finished the crossword. They need to make those puzzles tougher, I finished it too fast."
"Well they ought to post your mug on the cover of Popular Science. In fact, why not go on Twenty-One and make us a fortune."
"Well, I have a bit of an edge. It would kind of be cheating."
"Professor Van Doren can do it, so can you," said the gorilla.
"Aw, now that's just a rumor," said Jimmy. "You always think everyone's cheating, Ken."
"From my experience, everyone is. At least, everybody who looks to be the best at something. I'm not judging, I'm just saying."
Venus leaned back in her seat with a grin. Hearing her friends banter about news and trivia again meant the cloud had lifted and they would be ready to get back cracking on the mystery in no time. Their renewed enthusiasm would have to wait until morning though. Upon reaching San Francisco, Jimmy Woo insisted as usual that the group turn in for the night to get an early start the next day. Venus admired this tendency of Jimmy. Other crime-fighting organizations she had known were often insistent on burning the midnight oil, driving their people to the point of exhaustion. With exceptions, Jimmy always tried to keep his team well fed and rested, encouraging any practices that led to being more focused and sharp.
As the group retired to their rooms, M-11 stepped through the large window onto the ledge to begin his nightly surveillance.
* * * * *
Venus found herself running through a forest glade. Her feet were bare- in fact most of her was. She almost fell upon stepping onto a patch of damp moss, but managed to balance herself and slide on her feet down a steep but short hill. She began to run again, taking in deep draughts of spring air. She could almost taste honeysuckle with each breath. A field by a stream was thinly filled with grass nearly as tall as she was, and she immediately followed the urge to plunge into it. The blades of the plants wicked gently at her skin, producing tingles that enveloped her body. As the growth turned thicker, she changed direction and raced to the stream's edge, kicking up sheets of clear water. She enjoyed the mud through her toes until reaching a small lagoon. Arcing her body, Venus dived fully into the still water that had been warmed all afternoon by the sun. Minnows darted out of her path as she propelled herself with long kicks. She paused to watch the plantlife flow slowly back and forth and felt her long hair matching the movements. The lengths of reed cast dazzling patterns of shadows that she could have watched until dark. Instead she pushed upwards to the shimmering surface, dotted with waterlilies. As she breached, several lily pads clung to her body like a garment. She didn't bother to remove them, they would fall off soon enough after drying out. Venus stepped carefully on her way to the edge to keep from breaking any of the reeds growing there. She soon stepped onto soft grass and sat down to let the sun dry her figure. After a few minutes on her back she rolled over on her stomach and rested her chin on crossed arms. Having indulged most of her senses, she closed her eyes to give her ears equal time with the wonders of nature. In this way she became aware of a family of birds fussing over their nearby nest, as well as a colony of frogs. The next animal to take her attention she wasn't sure had made a noise at all, but she could tell it was in front of her. She opened her eyes to see a small dog standing in front of her, wagging its tail. The woman smiled and patted at the ground in hopes the animal would take that as an invitation to come closer. It tilted it's head, and then took a couple of steps nearer. Then Venus felt Marvel Boy's hand touch her shoulder, and she woke up.
"Ah. Um. I'm sorry to disturb you... but we're... ah, the dream suggestion. It's happening again."
Awash in moonlight from her bedside window, Bob Grayson could see Venus' startled expression turn to a soft smile. "Really? And I was having such a beautiful dream, too."
"Yes, you were. I mean-- well, I watched some of it, to see where it was going. You know, to figure out what the goal of... whoever... was. You know, the people who made us dream about the skeletons."
Venus sat up now, gathering her silk sheet up against her. "Bob, I don't mind that you watched me."
"It was just work!" He stepped back from the bed some. "Then I thought maybe I better wake you up anyway, before some other suggestion was planted that might endanger you. Which could be happening to the others now, so we better go wake them up." Venus slipped a robe on and went to knock on Ken Hale's door as Marvel Boy went to Jimmy Woo's. Within minutes all of them were standing in the hallway.
"So how do you know this was another subconscious invasion," asked Jimmy. Grayson tapped at the solid black band on his forehead. "Just as I was falling asleep it occurred to me that our mystery villains might try the trick again, so I took my headband off the nightstand and put it on. I usually don't sleep with it on. It leaves enough of a ring on my head having it on all day. But sure enough, as I was entering REM sleep, the band alerted me to impulses that didn't originate in my brain."
"Nice of you to see to Venus before the rest of us," Ken Hale smirked. Grayson's face grew flush, and Venus interjected. "Ladies first!" Jimmy looked around at the paneling on the walls and back to the young man. "Can you tell who did it- where it came from?"
Marvel Boy put his fingers to his temple. "It's still happening, actually. Like a broadcast." His blue cape made a swirling flourish as the hero turned to walk down the hall. He reminded Ken Hale of an uncle who used to seek out water sources with a divining rod made of tree branches. Bob turned into the office and walked forward until he realized he was about to hit a wall. Then he went over to the window and stepped up into it. On the ledge outside M-11 turned his eyebeam onto Grayson. "Turn that off, you're blinding me." The robot instantly complied. When the flashes disappeared from Marvel Boy's vision he looked forward as his headband directed. "There." He raised his arm and pointed at a window across the street. In the corner was a metallic object that looked to be an oscillating fan in the dark. Marvel Boy quietly lifted from the ledge and drifted across the canyon of buildings to hover outside the window. The glass was open, and inside the room a dark figure stood by a machine, busily adjusting controls. The round end of the device was what looked like a fan from a distance. The man's hands stopped, and he turned to discover the observer floating above him. He scrambled wildly, knocking over other pieces of equipment and kicking wires. Marvel Boy now came down into the room and his wristbands glowed to fill the area with light. The man pulled a gun off a table and began firing repeatedly at his pursuer. Marvel Boy flew quickly to the left in a twisting path that the gunman couldn't draw a bead on. Then he pointed his flat hand forward and and the weapon immediately grew too hot to hold. As it fell to the floor, the man doubled around to another window on the same wall. Just when Marvel Boy thought he would stop, the man leapt, smashing through the glass and beginning the long fall to the street. From the Federal Building M-11 extended his right arm with such force it seemed another gun had been fired. The expanding bands that made up his limb hit their maximum length just as the man was falling out of reach. M-11's fingers then also extended, which surprised Jimmy as he hadn't seen them do that before. The alloyed hand clamped onto the man's shirt and the robot's arm began to retract.
"Gotcha, goofball." Hale's long arm grabbed the man's collar as M-11 brought him to the ledge. He was short and wiry, and kicked and flailed with such energy that even the gorilla had trouble containing him. "Where do you think you're going, idiot? I don't see a parachute on your back."
"He was already headed to the street, " said Venus. "He must really not want to be taken alive. Calm down, sir. We just want to talk to you." As usual Venus was casually employing her effect so as not to alert her target to what she was doing. If someone knew about Venus they might be able to employ a mental exercise to hold her influence at bay long enough to escape. The thrashing man seemed so completely unaffected that she dropped any subtlety and began to sing one of her favorite traveling songs covered by Nat King Cole a few years back. Jimmy instantly plugged his ears. Since Ken had one hand occupied with the culprit, he launched into a series of grunts and hoots as a natural ape might. Besides helping mask the infectious tones of his teammate, this would often frighten criminals to the point of excessive release of information. Jimmy relaxed slightly, expecting a long confession to begin pouring from the captive. Instead he saw a flash of moonlight glinting from an ornate dagger that was clearly of the same make that the skeleton pilot brandished the day before. Just as Venus reached the lyrics "looks mighty pretty," the small man's arm swung out, raking the same spot on Ken's arm that the pilot had hit with his own knife. The ape howled.
"SON OF A-"
Jimmy's leg fired upwards and his foot knocked the knife from the man's hand with such force that it stuck in the wall by the window. Continuing the motion, Jimmy's body turned with the kick in a complete spin, and his fist landed squarely between the man's eyes. Had M-11 not still been holding onto the man's shirt, the punch would have certainly sent him back out the window. Instead the man's head flopped forward and his body slumped towards the floor, still dangling in the robot's grip.
"Shucks, I didn't want to knock him out. Now we'll have to wait a while to get anything out of him. I was sure once you started singing he'd be spilling his guts to us in minutes."
"You have to get your kicks," joked Venus. Her smile dropped upon looking closer at the man. "Ooh. I don't think I could have had any effect on him," said Venus with a look of repulsion. She knelt down next to the unconscious man and pointed to his ear. Like the other, it was disfigured with scar tissue as if someone had melted candlewax in it. "He's been made deaf," said Jimmy. "Look, there's some other scarring around his nose too. He either went to the world's worst face doctor or someone prepared him specifically to be immune to you."
"He'll get worse than that from me when he wakes up!" roared Hale as he closed the medicine cabinet. The gorilla poured the rest of a bottle of Witch Hazel onto his reopened wound. Marvel Boy floated through the open window, careful to not hit the glass with the long device he bore under his arm. He sat the machine down on Jimmy' s desk and switched on the lamp. For better illumination he adjusted the bendable arm of the lamp, briefly thinking how it was a crude version of M-11's arms. The light revealed a device around four feet in length, with a conical dish at one end. The part that had looked like a fan from outside.
"It's a gun," growled Gorilla Man.
"Yeah, but what does it shoot?"
"Images. Ideas. Dreams." Marvel Boy peered around the device, nodding as he looked at various sections. "Impulse creation." Jimmy realized that in a strange way his Uranian-born friend was approving of the thought that had gone into making the machine, if not the purpose for which it was built. "It runs on standard current." He opened a small red box in the middle, then finding it of little use, closed it. Finally he came to the other end of the invention, which housed a glass canister full of liquid. Several wires ran into a small flexible shape that floated in the solution. It was roughly the size of a nearly-finished bar of soap. The space hero regarded this for a moment and then said simply, "Gosh."
"That looks kind of familiar," said Hale. "But I can't place it. You going to let us in on the gag?"
"Yes," answered Marvel Boy in a hollow voice. "You'd recognize it if it were in context of the whole thing it comes from, though." The others leaned in to see the floating object. Jimmy studied the creases running through it. Venus thought it looked like a sponge. "Well?" she asked.
"It's brain tissue."
* * * * *
Endgame
2006-09-15 17:20:26
* * * * *
The small leather collar with the red metal star lay on a round glass surface. Colored lights from all across the spectrum raced around the object, and a transparent image of the collar appeared above the actual object. Strange text began to appear in the air as well, reading out from right to left, and from bottom to top. Jimmy Woo reached his fingers through the odd glyphs to see if he could feel them, but of course he did not. "So what's this gizmo doing, Bob?"
Marvel Boy flipped a switch on the console of the Silver Bullet that would keep it on a clear course, and rotated his seat to look at the analyzer his friends were gathered around in fascination. "It's analyzing traces of the animal's genetic structure. You can see that there are a few hairs to work with, and the leather has absorbed oils from the dog's skin."
"Sweat too, huh." added Jimmy, fixated on the holograms.
"No, dogs aspirate through their paws and by panting," said Ken Hale, equally transfixed. He felt the eyes of his team upon him in the way that generally irritated him. "Why is everybody surprised when I know a little science? I'm an ape of all trades! I could fly this rocket too, if pretty boy let me." Then a new hologram projected, of planet Earth. It began spinning quickly in the direction of the actual planet, then vertically. Hundreds of thin lines crossed through the image and more arcane text appeared.
"It's searching the planet now for a match," explained Grayson. The gorilla looked over at a container and turned back to them. "Hey! We should do this with one of those fancy daggers those skeletons couldn't stop stickin' me with! That oughta take us right to whoever's behind this nutty scheme."
"It won't work," explained Bob. "It's a good idea, and you're catching on quickly to how devices like this function, Ken, but even my technology isn't to that point yet. The only way this is going to work- if it does- is if there's an actual living creature somewhere with the corresponding DNA chain. For an instrument like this, living bodies function almost as transmitters, constantly broadcasting their code as they expend energy. The skeletons were animated by some other force, they weren't alive." Grayson's headband seemed to glow slightly as he mused on the point he just made. "It's probably just dumb luck on the bad guys' part. But using the skeletons was the perfect way to keep me off their trail." He had little time to think on the matter further as a light began pulsing on the projection of the globe, which then enlarged to show more detail. The glowing region then lifted out of position and produced an exploded view, showing in progressively greater relief the geographic location that the analyzer had found its match.
"It's found something!" said Venus. "Does this mean... the little dog is alive?"
"Yes. Though it's not the readout I expected to see. Something's... different. I'll put in a new course, I expect Jimmy wants to go there immediately."
Jimmy Woo leaned in closer and nodded a yes. He felt a cold wave pass over his skin as he saw the location.
"Washington, DC."
* * * * *
Grayson looked at his instrument panels. "Two objects are coming in almost as fast as we are." Kenneth Hale looked at the glowing dots on the round monitor. "Jets! We're a UFO coming into Washington airspace, they're gonna fire on us!
"Wag your wings!"
"Here, you take the helm since you're the ace pilot." Marvel Boy unclipped his seat latch and started for the rear of the rocket. "I've got to go draw them away while you land. If they start firing we'll never have a chance to explain ourselves."
Ken Hale leapt into the pilot's seat and took the stick as the young man opened a small airlock in the hull and closed it behind him. The Air Force pilots broke off immediately as Marvel Boy shot out of the side of the rocket- resembling a missile himself. The red and blue missile then looped in the opposite direction that Hale now took the Silver Bullet.
"Ken! At least fly rightside up so my stomach will go down!"
"Ha! Sorry Jimbo." The ape pulled the stick and turned their world back on the axis they preferred. "You guys are used to Bob, drivin' like my dad. I'll show those flyboys a thing or two."
"Let Bob deal with them, we need to get down to the National Mall pronto."
The gorilla rolled his eyes. "All right. Lemme give those crewcuts a signal, maybe it'll help." He brought the rocket around before the jets, which had just returned to formation. Coming in at eleven o'clock, he rocked the ship a number of times and then blasted away, leaving only a contrail for the jets to see.
"Did that UFO just wag its wings at us?"
"Roger that. Eyes up at two o' clock-- the other one is up to something."
"Lordy. How does it turn that sharp? It looks like it's... skywriting."
Bob Grayson's wristbands glowed brightly as he raced several hundred yards and then took another abrupt turn. After two more such paths, the symbol he made was connected. He then flew back like a swimmer pushing himself away from a pool wall, and aimed his arms forward. The nearly solid beams of light he made filled the large shape to form an enormous white star. The jets radioed back to the tower.
"I think these guys are trying to tell us they're American," said the pilot. "Is this some new defense you didn't let us in on?"
"It's news to us too, Grigsby," called back the man at the tower. "But we just got a call from the Feds saying this is some of their people, believe it or not."
"They've got an air division now?"
"Appears so. Break off and resume a perimeter patrol so no more of those bogeys like before get through."
The National Guard had troops in place at each street before the Washington Mall Park. They had rolled out Howitzers, the quickest defense that could be assembled. As the creature advanced down 7th Street, the large guns fired on it, their report echoing through all of the District of Columbia. Jimmy Woo watched the shells impact the creature's skin, sending showers of sparks and flame off to each side. Four direct hits made no difference in the beast's approach. The soldiers manning one of the large guns scattered as the creature opened it's cavernous mouth and bit down on the barrel, crumpling it like foil. It shook its head from side to side and the Howitzer flew into several sections, causing infantry to take cover behind their barricades. Jimmy Woo couldn't help but think of some of the movies he'd seen directed by George Pal in which he'd noticed the name of the special effects artist Ray Harryhausen. He thought that the films had been eerily accurate in depicting a large alien terror with the exception of always being shot from a level distance. From his own vantage point the beast towered six stories over his head. He looked over at Ken Hale who was uncharacteristically speechless.
"That's the little dog?" asked Venus.
"It grew," replied Jimmy.
A brave treasury agent on the way to work had pulled his Buick sedan to the side as a barricade for the juggernaut that made it's way through 7th Street. He emptied his revolver at the creature, and each bullet was rejected by the thick skin. Having no further defense to offer, the agent ran from the car just as an enormous foot crushed it.
FBI officer Jerry Wall saw Woo and his odd team and ran to them. "Boy, you guys showed up at the right time, we couldn't even get anybody in place to call you this thing hit so fast! When I saw the rocket I called the Defense Department to get you clearance. You know what this thing is?"
"Remember that dog the Russians sent up last year?" said Jimmy Woo, still absorbed by the sight before him.
"Muttnik?"
"Yep. It's name was Laika, actually. It's been exposed to cosmic rays in a section of the Van Allen Belt, and this is what you get now."
"Holy... the Soviets are attacking us with monsters! I didn't see it happening that way."
"It's not them, they were manipulated. Whoever is behind this, I think wanted us to think this was a Communist attack. The creature was probably supposed to come down in the capsule so we'd see where it was from, but the radiation didn't work like they expected. This is Bob's notion- it took a lot longer to mutate than they thought, so they had to leave it in orbit several months. Then they had trouble controlling where the payload would come down, and that's why the plot with all the stolen boats. They had to cover the whole Pacific Ocean, more or less."
In front of Flynn's Irish Pub a group of leather-clad bikers made hoots and catcalls at the frenzied scene. They were too mesmerized to look back at the gruff voice speaking to them.
"Hey boys! Who's got the fastest bike of this bunch?"
The leader of the gang watched the giant beast shake a truck apart with it's jaws. "I'm the big deal- mine flies, hero. Who wants to know? The man felt his jacket tighten around the sewn emblem that said "SAINTS" inside a devil's head, and his body lifted from the motorcycle. He dropped into the sidecar and the large hand reached down to the linkage to separate it with one quick clench. The leader of Satan's Saints watched a gorilla kick-start his prized machine and turn to give him a thumbs up. "Your country thanks you," said the Gorilla Man, and the vehicle raced away toward the chaos.
Marvel Boy lowered to the creature's eye level.
"Don't hurt it, Bob!" yelled Venus.
"I don't think there's any danger of that!" Bob Grayson concentrated his light beams and sent a powerful flash at the creature's eyes. A piercing howl rang through the canyons of buildings as the beast squinted and shook its head. It's large eyes opened again, and a greenish membrane slid down over the obsidian pupils. Marvel Boy's bands pulsed again to make an even brighter flash that had no effect this time. The large lower jaw opened and a wave of flame erupted in the direction of Marvel Boy. The young hero propelled himself back at top speed, staying mere feet ahead of the pursuing flames. Several elm trees on the Mall caught the fire and began to burn.
Jimmy Woo ran to an overturned police car and picked up the megaphone he saw by the smashed window. "Venus! See if you can calm the creature down through this!" He threw the device to her and she fumbled with the switch. Clearing her throat, she aimed the cone up towards the beast. Venus thought for a moment, then made a brief whistle. The creature's scaly ears lifted.
"Laika! Here girl! Come on puppy... come on... who's a good doggie?
A soldier grabbed the hand of his crew member about to drop another shell into the mortar barrel. The enormous beast's head cocked at an angle and it's multi-nostriled nose began sniffing towards the woman below.
"That's a good Laika! Yeah, come on girl. Calm down... calm down..."
The beast had a tail roughly twenty feet long with several spiky protrusions along the sides. A jeep was sticking out of a second story window where the tail had smacked it. Now it began to wag. The various soldiers and federal agents in the area kept their guns up but didn't move or advance.
"Well I'll be... it's looks like your girl may just do it," said Wall as he pushed his hat back.
"Beauty always trumps Beast," said Jimmy Woo. The two watched the enormous creature shuffle its legs and lean back into a sitting position while Venus kept cooing through the megaphone. Then a quick burst of sound cut through the ears of everyone on the Mall, becoming inaudible though Jimmy could feel a ringing in his head. The beast rose again and now stood on its haunches, towering over the buildings around it. A roar echoed around the DC buildings and caused several men to turn and run. They had been at the back of the line of defense and hadn't a clear idea of the size of the brownish green animal until that moment. The creature's head thrashed and spit more fire, and as it came down it's foot plunged to the part of the street where Venus stood.
The horn ridged foot stopped at nine feet above Venus' head, held by the metal hands of M-11. The robot's extended arms twisted and pushed to keep the leg from coming down, and a red-blue blur raced through to remove Venus from the area. M-11 released his grip and the massive paw slammed down, buckling the street. Though the beast hadn't been aware of the goddess under its feet, it was now very concerned with the shining metal figure there, and release another torrent of fire. Jimmy Woo's eyes followed where Marvel Boy put Venus down, by the gate of the Smithsonian. As he turned to look back at the threat, his peripheral vision caught site of two men atop the museum. They had been in the position of snipers, which were no doubt everywhere now, but something struck him as odd. Looking back he saw that the two were manning something like a large gun, but of gleaming chrome. One of the men had headphones on that were wired to the gun. One of the men was tall, the other shorter and balding.
Ken Hale raced up to Jimmy. "How we doing?"
"We're losing. M-11! Shock it!"
The robot extended both arms and its fingers, and large arcs of electricity worked their way through the alien creature, much more current than had been used on the Russian soldiers the day before. The beast howled loudly again and spun around. The spiky tail swung with terrific force, launching the robot from the street over the flaming trees along the Mall. Even through all the commotion Ken Hale could hear the bang M-11's body made when it hit the ground. "That dog oughta play for the Red Sox."
Jimmy jumped on the back of the motorcycle. "I think the animal is being controlled, like those gators at the Marshall Center. Take me over to that entrance of the Smithsonian, and cut around so those guys on top don't see us!"
"Aye, aye." The gorilla turned the throttle and the machine raced around a barricade and by the building. Jimmy hopped off and gave a final order. "I hate to ask you to do this, but the monster looks pretty agitated now. I think it's going to start eating those soldiers if it's not distracted."
"Hey, you're talking to a guy who knows how to make animals hunt him down. Watch my smoke." The front of the motorcycle lurched upwards and Gorilla Man raced towards the rampaging beast.
Jimmy Woo ran up the steps of the museum and found the roof access. He quietly opened the door and walked around the brick structure to see the men aiming the long device and turning knobs. Below the creature opened its mouth to fire upon a troop of National Guardsmen who now had no cover. Its attention was then captured by a buzzing motor. A gorilla driving a motorcycle went through the beast's legs.
"C'mon pup! I'm right under your nose" The ape raced between the front and hind legs, and turned sharply upon nearing the tail, remembering what that had done to M-11. The creature twisted and writhed as it looked under itself, and the bike jetted out from underneath. Ken Hale turned left and raced full speed down the Mall in the direction of the Washington Monument, the giant mutant in pursuit. The beast's gallop sounded like thunder and Hale tried to tune it out. Marvel Boy swooped down and matched speed alongside the motorcycle. "What's the plan, Ken?"
"I'm taking her for a walk! Who knows, maybe she's just got to go!"
"Where's Jimmy?"
"He's up on top of the Smithsonian checking out two guys who might be running this show. Why don't you go there, I got this under control!"
"Yes, you have her right where you want her," Marvel Boy smiled, and blasted off to find Jimmy. At this moment, Jimmy Woo had his FBI credentials and his gun out. "FBI! What are you men doing..." The men turned and Jimmy recognized them as the fake Federal agents who had visited his office that night a week ago. "Derskin! Oglethorpe!"
The one called Derskin lifted his own gun, only to feel a bullet pierce his upper arm. Oglethorpe now had his weapon up, a machine gun. Jimmy ducked back behind the roof access as a rain of bullets hit the bricks.
Ken and the creature were passing the Washington Monument now, which briefly caught the animal's attention, making it pause. "Hey! That ain't a fire hydrant! Down here- here!!!" Ken spun the back wheel of the bike to kick up a huge cloud of dust by the creature's snout, and it turned from the obelisk. The chase began again, with Ken Hale going downhill to the Reflecting Pool.
"You traitors! What were you trying to do, set off World War III?" Jimmy pulled his head back at the response, another hail of bullets. "We're not authorized with that kind of information- but we do have clearance to fire on you." More shots ate away at the brick. Oglethorpe hands suddenly felt warm, then in intense pain. He dropped the machine gun which was glowing red. He looked up to see Marvel Boy coming in too fast to avoid and his next sensation was rolling across the roof of the museum, his jaw feeling less attached than usual. As the young hero landed, Derskin turned back to the machine and flipped a red switch. Jimmy was back out in the open, his gun levelled at Derskin's head. "What was that? What did you just do?"
Ken Hale raced along the Reflecting Pool and could feel water hitti | | |
