The Silver Age #6
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The Silver Age #6 |
"As The Thread Plays Out"
The last thing Ace Morgan wanted to do was to get into a fistfight with an angry Hal Jordan. Jordan was ex-Air Force just like he was and had received the same combat training Ace had. And Jordan looked as he if kept himself in awfully good shape. Ace was pretty sure that if they started mixed it up, somebody was going to end up in the hospital and that was the last thing Ace wanted.
Carol Ferris was speaking rapidly to the matre d’ of Michaela’s who had rushed over to Carol’s table at the first hint of trouble. She was assuring him that she could handle the problem. Some the waiters were hovering nearby in case they were needed. Hal Jordan was standing just a few feet from Ace, his lean face dark with anger. But Ace was just smiling at the furious Jordan and seemed quiet at ease with the situation. “I’m serious, Morgan. You and me. Outside. Let’s go.”
Carol whirled on Hal and hissed, “Will you sit DOWN and stop acting like a goddamn KID! I swear, Jordan, if you don’t sit down right this second and act like you’ve got good sense, I will not only fire you, I’ll have you blackballed!”
That got through to Hal in a New York minute. His anger faded as he answered; “You’re not serious, Carol. C’mon—“
“By the time I get through with you and your so-called rep, nobody will hire you to fly a friggin’ kite. You don’t think I’m serious? Try me.”
Ace couldn’t help but grin. Somehow, he got the impression that Hal and Carol had played out this scene in one form or another many, many times before. “C’mon, Jordan…sit down and take it easy. It’s not what you think.”
Hal reluctantly sat next to Carol. “Oh, and what do I think it is?”
“You obviously think I’m making a play for Carol, which isn’t what’s going on here at all. Matter of fact, it’s YOUR own fault we’re having this lunch.”
“Me?” Hal looked from Ace to Carol and back to Ace in frank disbelief. “And what could you have to do with me, Morgan?”
“Carol thought that as a fellow pilot, I might be able to give some insight into your recent unexplained disappearances.”
Hal rolled his eyes upward in agitated disgust. “Of all the…look, Morgan, that’s none of your concern and as for you—“ Hal turned to Carol. “We’ve had this discussion before. You don’t want to be a part of my life and that’s fine. You’re my boss and that’s as far as it goes. I can deal with that. What I can’t deal with is your continual prying into my private life. What I do off the field is my business and mine alone.”
“Not when it involves my company losing out on important government contracts!” Carol snapped back. “I don’t understand you, Hal! No matter what our up and downs in our relationship, we’ve always been honest with one another! But these strange comings and goings at the drop of a hat…”
Ace held up a hand. “I think I can explain, Carol. And I fully understand why Hal couldn’t tell you.”
Hal jerked as if he’d been stung by a scorpion. He looked at Ace suspiciously. “Exactly WHAT is it you can explain, Morgan?”
Once again that confident grin spread across Ace’s wide, handsome face. “Why, the secret you’ve been hiding from Carol, Hal. Pretty easy for me to figure out. After all, I’m a pilot too, you know. I’m surprised I didn’t think of it sooner.”
Hal suddenly looked like he was wishing he were someplace, ANYPLACE else than here. “You’re bluffing, Morgan. You can’t possibly know. I’ve been so careful….”
Carol pounced like a hungry puma. “What is it, Ace? I demand to know! Tell me!”
Hal said quickly, “Look, Morgan…let’s make a deal…you don’t know what you’d be doing!”
“Look, Hal…I think things would be a lot better off for you if you let Carol in on it. I think she can be trusted, even if her security rating isn’t high enough.”
Hal blinked in surprise. “Hah?”
“I mean, why wouldn’t you want Carol to know that you’re working for The Justice League of America?”
Both Hal and Carol looked as if they’d been hit on the tops of their heads with rubber mallets. Carol shook her head in disbelief.
“What kind of crap are you trying to hand me, Ace?”
Ace chuckled. “It’s no crap. Not long after they first announced their organization to the public, The Justice League contacted me about designing and building a personal aircraft for them to be used by their team members who can’t fly. I was much too busy at the time and had to turn them down. Now, there are only a few other pilots I can think of that the Justice League would go to and Hal has to be the one they finally hired.”
Carol still looked doubtful but she looked at Hal and he could see that she was beginning to find the idea plausible as she asked; “Is any of this true?”
Hal spread his hands and his face lightened up. “Carol, If only you knew HOW many times I wanted to tell you what I’ve been doing, but I couldn’t.”
“You mean you HAVE been working for The Justice League?”
Hal’s head was nodding up and down excitedly. “I’ve been testing and flying experimental aircraft for them. The work is going slowly because so much of it is done in secret at a hidden airbase. Even I don’t know where it is for sure. Green Lantern picks me up and takes me there and brings me back.”
“Well, for God’s sake, Hal, why didn’t you just TELL me? Surely you didn’t think I couldn’t be trusted?”
“It wasn’t that, Carol. Green Lantern swore me to secrecy. And I was concerned for your safety as well as the safety of everybody working at Ferris Aircraft. If it was found out somehow that I was working for The Justice League, maybe one of their enemies would come looking for me there, thinking they could get some information out of me.”
Ace said, “See? I told you it wasn’t such a mystery after all.”
Carol still looked a bit dubious but her curiosity was satisfied. “Well, I still say that you could’ve confided in me, Hal. I don’t like to think that you don’t trust me.”
“Carol, I swear, it wasn’t that at all. I was so excited about the prospect of working with The Justice League that I would’ve promised them anything.” Hal leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “We square, now?”
Carol grinned. “I suppose so. IF you can give me some kind of notice before The Justice League scoops you up again so that I can have a replacement pilot ready?”
Hal grinned. “I’ll tell Green Lantern the next time I see him.”
Ace’s cell phone rang for attention and he answered it. Hal and Carol talked quietly as Ace listened, asked a few terse questions and then hung up. “Carol, I hate to bail on you like this but I’ve got to head back to Challenger Mountain right now.”
Hal Jordan looked very interested. “Trouble?”
Ace stood up as he answered, “It’s my teammate, Red Ryan. His brother Tino Mannery has gone missing. In The Bermuda Triangle of all places. We’re going to go find him.”
Hal looked at Ace dubiously. “You sound awfully calm and cool about going into The Bermuda Triangle. Considering the number of people who have gone in there and never come back out.”
Ace Morgan shrugged. “It’s not like The Challengers Of The Unknown haven’t been there before…”
“So what’s in this for me, Lois?” June Robbins asked again. She and Lois Lane, one of the Daily Planet’s top reporters had moved from their bar stools to a booth in Murphy’s, the popular Washington D.C. watering hole they were hanging out in. June had come there just for a quick mid-day drink and had run into the reporter. The place had gotten more packed and two such notable personalities as June Robbins and Lois Lane had quickly attracted attention from the other newshounds in the joint who demanded to know what was up with the two women. Simply to have some measure of privacy so they could continue their discussion, June had used her clout to get them a private booth.
Lois wanted an interview for her paper with Dora Lockridge, who was engaged to be married to June’s Challenger teammate, Prof Haley. June didn’t mind swinging the interview for the determined and plucky Lois Lane but June damn well wanted something out of it for herself as well.
Lois stubbed out her cigarette in the already overflowing ashtray of butts and said peevishly, “Come on, June. You’re a world famous Challenger as well as being one of the country’s top brains. Hell, you work in The Pentagon and The President calls you for computer advice on everything from him having problems accessing his email to reprogramming NORAD’s database. You’re beautiful, brilliant, you hang out with four of the handsomest, most eligible bachelors on Earth—“
“Three.” June corrected with a radiant grin.
Lois conceded the point with an empathic nod. “Right. Right. Three. So what could you possibly want?”
June said simply; “I want to meet Clark Kent.”
Lois threw back her head and guffawed. “CLARK? You want to meet Clark Kent? Why on Earth would you want to meet Clark Kent?”
June shrugged. “I like his writing. I’ve got all his books and I’d like him to autograph Under A Yellow Sun for me. What’s so outrageous about that?”
Lois shook her head. “Yeah…I keep forgetting that Smallville IS a hell of a writer…”
“Smallville?”
Lois chuckled. “My pet name for him…that’s where he’s from…Smallville, Kansas. He’s a genuine corn-fed farm boy straight outta the boonies, June. Trust me. As simple and unsophisticated as an oak tree.”
“Sounds like you don’t think much of your colleague.”
Lois’s eyes were wistful as she said; “Nah…it’s not like that…quite the opposite, in fact. Oh, sure, he makes me mad as hell that he gets all those Superman scoops and I really, REALLY hated him for a while there when he first joined The Planet.” Lois motioned for their waitress to bring them another round of Long Island Ice Teas. “But that was just professional jealousy. I got real used to being the top gun at The Planet. Clark’s not only a helluva writer but he’s also just too good to be true.”
“How so?”
“Well, maybe I’m too jaded and cynical but Clark Kent is just too sweet and kind and considerate to be real. Do you know he sends half his paycheck to his parents? They live on a lovely old farm a few miles outside of Smallville and really don’t need the money but Clark insists that they take it. And he visits them EVERY weekend. What guy do you know who visits his parents EVERY weekend?”
June had to admit that she didn’t know any.
“And his apartment! I HATE going to his apartment. The place is absolutely spotless! I swear, he must have some kind of obsessive compulsive cleaning disorder. And he’s NEVER late for anything. He NEVER forgets an appointment. He NEVER gets sick. I can’t remember the last time he took a day off from work. He’s got nine months vacation time in the bank. He NEVER forgets a co-worker’s birthday or anniversary or their kid’s birthday, graduation, whatever…”
“You make him sound like Superman, Lois.” June laughed. “All that and you haven’t grabbed him up? Sounds like he’d be the perfect husband.”
“He would be if he weren’t so damned SQUARE.” Lois grumbled. “Beats the hell outta me how somebody who’s that careful and ordered got to be such a top reporter, but hey, if you want to meet him, so be it. I’ll arraign it. When can I get that interview with Prof’s lady?”
A ring emanated from June’s purse and she reached into her purse to take out her jet-black Challenger cell phone with the yellow hourglass symbol. She flipped it open and listened to the voice on the other end for a few minutes, asking a few questions and then closing it up.
Lois Lane’s eyes were bright with excitement as she said, “Look like The Challengers Of The Unknown have another adventure in the works.”
June was gathering up her purse, her laptop and throwing money on the table to pay for her share of the drinks. “It’s Red. His brother is lost in The Bermuda Triangle and he wants The Challengers to help him find him.”
Lois jumped to her feet. “I KNEW it would pan out when I saw you!”
“Lois, you can’t just—“
Lois held up a hand. “You said I could get the Lockridge interview anyway, right? Well, I can get the interview and be right on the spot to get a first hand report on a genuine Challenger adventure.” Lois grinned. “I thought you and me had become pals, Robbins?”
June sighed. “C’mon, then…although I don’t know HOW I’m gonna square this with the boys…”
Red Ryan sighed as he slipped his Challenger phone into his back pocket. He never knew the meaning of what true friendship was until he had met Ace, June, Prof and Rocky. A lot of people mouthed words of friendship, but his fellow Challengers were the living embodiment of the principals. He’d called each and every one and no matter what they were doing, they dropped it to answer his call for help. Red reached for his cup of coffee and sipped it while he looked over the charts of The Bermuda Triangle he’d had sent up to his hotel room. Beatrice Miller was talking into her own cell phone as Red poured over the charts. He’d spread them out over the dining room table, which the largest he could find and he was refreshing his memory. The Challengers had been inside The Bermuda Triangle before but until Red got hold of Tino’s exact last known location, it was going to be no day at Disney to find him.
But Red and Tino shared a psychic bond whereas they could actually ‘see’ through each other’s eyes if they got close enough and Red knew for a certainty that if he got close enough to Tino, he would be able to see with his brother’s eyes and pinpoint his exact location.
Tino Mannery’s real name was Martin Ryan. Red had never been quite sure how the events of his parents putting up his brother for adoption had happened. His parents had never discussed it with him or Tino and indeed, Tino had even tried to kill The Challengers once, thinking they had been responsible for Red’s death. Actually, Red had been amnesiac and had been mutated into a ghastly, monstrous form for a time. The other Challengers had sworn to Tino that they would save Red and to make sure they kept their promise, Tino joined the team for a time until finding Red and returning him to his human form. Tino had then returned to his career as one the world’s top rock/pop stars but he and Red had become close as the two of them maintained that one day they would find out exactly the circumstances of Tino’s being put up for adoption.
Beatrice put away her cell phone and walked over to Red. “Okay, I’ve cleared your schedule for the next month. But if it takes longer than that to find Tino, just let me know and I’ll handle it.”
Red reached out and hugged Beatrice. “Thanks. You don’t know how much this means to me. I know I’m putting you in a spot…”
“Hell, family comes first before anything, Red. If it were my brother, I’d be out there right now.”
There was a knock at the door and Red looked around sharply. “You expecting room service?”
Beatrice shook her head. “Far as I know, nobody knows you’re here except for me.”
Red motioned for Beatrice to get behind one of the large sofas and he reached into a duffle bag and drew out a large black .45 automatic and aimed it at the door. “Come in,” he called, quietly cocking the hammer back.
The door swung open wide and Red’s eyes widened at who he saw standing there. She was a woman with the straightest, blackest hair he had ever known and eyes as deep and mysterious as a mountain lake. Her severe, thin face rarely smiled but when it did, it was absolutely angelic. Red slowly lowered the gun. “How in the world did you know I was here?”
The woman walked into the room with an easy, gliding stride that was hypnotic in its pantherish grace. “I still have my ways of keeping track of you, Red Ryan. And I heard about Tino. I figured maybe you and the others could use some help finding him. After all, I WAS a Challenger Of The Unknown for a while.”
And indeed, she had been. Corinna Stark had proved a most able replacement for Prof when he had been injured by machine gun fire. Corinna might even have remained with the team if the romantic tension between her, Red and Rocky hadn’t gotten too strained. Corinna had been unable to decide between the two men and she hadn’t wanted to be the cause of them ending their friendship, so she had left The Challengers.
“So how about it, Red? Can you use my help?” And Corinna Stark gave him one of her very rare smiles.
“Always, baby….always….”
Dora Lockridge was outwardly calm as she packed her clothes in a suitcase while Prof Haley was bringing the sixty-foot yacht Sea Hunter into port. But inwardly, she was screaming. The control crystal in her head was housing the malevolent intelligence of Kra, the mad robot who was one of the deadliest enemies of The Challengers. Kra had been waiting patiently for some emergency such as the disappearance of Red’s brother so that Dora would be taken to Challenger Mountain where Kra could at last learn their secrets and use her to destroy the team.
Prof’s voice crackled with excitement over the intercom. “Bring the bags up, Dora. I’ve chartered a flight and we’ve got to get over to the airport right away.”
Dora thumbed a button on the panel. “Be right up, Prof.”
There was no hope for it, Dora thought miserably as she brought first her suitcases and then Prof’s up on the deck, watching him steer the boat into the dock and then shouting for assistance to tie it up. She could hear Kra’s laughter in her brain as she helplessly watched Prof’s final preparations to bring the boat into dock. Prof was just as sure handed as she remembered he was when it came to operating any kind of sea-going vessel. She only wished she could have—
The yacht lurched suddenly as Prof reversed the engines and Dora was thrown off her balance. Immediately, Kra’s control crystal took over command of her motor functions, trying to maintain her balance and keep her upright but it was no use. Everything had happened too fast and Dora’s cry as she went over the side was not one of terror and dismay, but rather of triumph and gladness.
There was a sickening crunch.
Prof shouted wordlessly as he cut the engines. Some of the dock hands had jumped into the water and Prof leaped from the deck of the Sea Hunter to the dock as Dora’s limp body was hauled up out of the water and onto the deck. Prof’s eyes opened in horror as he saw all the blood…God, there was so much blood…
“Call an ambulance!” Prof dropped to his knees next to Dora and cradled her limp body in his arms as tears flowed freely down his lean cheeks. “For God’s sake, somebody call an ambulance!”
“There’s one comin’, mate! Jus’ hang on!”
Prof wiped away blood from Dora’s face, trying not to look at the hideous gash in her head and the odd angles her left arm and legs were bent into. “Hold on, Dora…” Prof whispered. “Just hold on…”
And Now, A Word From The Writer: Yeah, I know..this issue of Challengers Of The Unknown is shorter than the others by about 2,000 words. I usually like for my issues to top off somewhere around the 5,000 word range as I feel that 5,000 is just about how long people can stand to read my writing before shutting off the computer and going to watch Andromeda or Mutant X . Why is it short? My fault entirely. I’ve been having some health problems of late as well as dealing with family issues and so my time at the keyboard has been limited. I’ve been doing some reviews (you HAVE been checking out Derrick Ferguson’s Notebook 2.0 for the best in reviews of fan fiction, haven’t you?) and some interviews as well, but there has been a whole bunch of other stuff going on that you really don’t wanna know…just take my word when I say that RealLife has been biting me in the bohunkus lately.
But as everybody knows, DC LEGENDS is my home and I feel bad when I can’t contribute a story. I’m also working on a Justice Squadron Annual and the return of Mon-El so you’ve got that to look forward to in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, enjoy this abbreviated Challengers Of The Unknown issue and rest assured that the next issue WILL be normal sized…
NEXT ISSUE: The Bermuda Triangle! Corinna Stark and Gaylord Clayburn III rejoin the team to help search for Tino Mannery! Guest starring Lois Lane! It’s gonna be funky! Be HERE!