THE SILVER AGE #11
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THE SILVER AGE #11 |
"Where There Is Sorrow…"
"Impossible. Utterly and totally impossible."
The words were spoken by Prof Haley in such a flat, unemotional voice that Ace Morgan half turned in his swivel chair to careful examine his friend's face. In the harsh light streaming from the eighty inch monitor screen they were watching, Ace could see that Prof's face was as neutral and clinical as if he were watching nothing. Ace turned back to the screen, not sure how much control he could keep if he were watching the woman he loved just walk out of a building under her own power and especially when that woman had no business being able to walk.
But there it was. Gaylord Clayburne III had used his considerable clout to secure the digital recorders from the hospital's security cameras which he had brought straightaway to Challenger Mountain while he flew back to Australia to continue the search there for Dora Lockridge, Prof's fiancé and a woman whose injuries were so severe that there was no way on Earth she should be capable of doing what it was The Challengers were seeing on the screen.
Red Ryan was reading Dora's hospital report, leafing through the sheaf of thin papers rapidly until he found what he was looking for. "According to this, both of Dora's legs were broken in at least four or five places each and her right arm was damn near crushed. It took three hours of surgery just to stop the internal bleeding and there was extensive damage to her spine." Red shook his head. "The doctors who worked on her say her that they didn't see any way that Dora would ever walk again and they gave her 50/50 on even being able to sit up straight."
Rocky Davis indicated the screen as he said grimly; "Awfully nimble chick, ain't she?"
Indeed. On the screen, Dora Lockridge was walking rapidly right out of the front doors of the hospital, wearing a dress two sizes too big for her, obviously a garment she had appropriated for her use as well as the beat-up pair of sneakers on her feet. Despite the fact that she had been knocking at Death's door just a few days before, even after hours of surgery to save her life, Dora Lockridge walked out of the hospital under her own power and if the excellent digital recordings were any judge, she had no scars, no outward sign of her accident and indeed, appeared to be lovelier than ever.
Prof said one word with such hatred that his teammates swapped concerned looks.
"Kra."
Rocky sat back in his swivel chair and pointed the remote control at the screen and paused the recording. "You said the docs told you that Dora had some kinda crystal implanted in her brain, Prof?"
Red shoved Dora's file across the conference table toward Rocky. "It's all in there, Rock. They took enough cat scans to wallpaper this room. There's no mistake. Kra stuck something in her head, all right."
"Sneaky bastard." Rocky opened the folder and leafed through it. "So Dora's out there with Kra in control of her body. Not to take nothin' away from the fairer sex, but Kra in a woman's body don't exactly make me tremble with fear, y'know?"
Ace nodded. "But the first thing Kra will want to do is put his consciousness in a new body. And that will probably kill Dora. Am I right, Prof?"
Prof said nothing, merely stood up and walked away from the conference table. Rocky started to go after him, but Ace waved his hand in a 'leave him alone' gesture.
Following their harrowing adventure in The Bermuda Triangle, The Challengers had delivered the incredible creature they had found there to S.T.A.R. Labs scientists in Florida who had drooled over the remarkable find. Lois Lane had bid The Challengers farewell in Miami as she was going to continue to report on the discovery of the creature. Lois had grinned and said while she had enjoyed her time with The Challengers, she couldn't neglect her day job, which was being one of the top reporters for The Daily Planet. However, if the passionate goodbye kiss she gave Ace Morgan was any indication, it wouldn't be long before The Challengers would be seeing her again.
Both Tino Mannery and June Robbins had suffered injuries during the adventure at the hands of The Goo Men and despite both their objections, Ace had pulled rank and insisted they be checked into one of Miami's best hospitals, The Clayton Emery Medical Center. Corinna Stark volunteered to stay with them and make sure they behaved and followed the orders of the doctors. Neither Tino nor June had liked it one bit but Ace had pointed out with his usual clear -headed thinking that if worst came to worst and The Challengers had to fight Kra yet again, they would need help but only if that help were themselves in perfect condition. June and Tino had made Ace promise to give them updates every eight hours on the progress of the search for Dora. Clayburne gave Prof the digital recorders and elected to fly back to Australia and look for Dora there, just on the chance that perhaps she had collapsed somewhere and was lying unconscious in a basement or alley, unable to call for help. Clayburne held no illusions about his relationship with The Challengers. He didn't click with them and they didn't exactly consider him a bosom buddy and a life-long pal. Especially Red Ryan who downright detested Clayburne. Even though he was helping out to find Dora, it would be better if he worked separately from the others.
In any case, after seeing the recordings, none of The Challengers believed that Dora was lying unconscious anywhere. In fact, they highly doubted that Dora was still in Australia. Prof had walked over to the table where a large plastic cooler was filled with ice and various cans of soda, fruit juice and energy drinks. He selected a pint-sized cardboard carton of apple juice and shook it, turning around to look at the frozen image of the woman he loved.
They were meeting in the computer room of Challenger Mountain, their secret headquarters located in the Colorado Rockies. They had flown back and Ace had insisted they all get a full 8 hours sleep before tackling the problem. And the solution seemed quite simple.
"We've got to find Dora." Prof said simply. "Kra has to be stopped. It all comes down to that."
"We're going to find a way to get that crystal out of her brain, Prof," Ace said firmly. "Kra put it in and that means there's a way to take it out and he'll tell us."
Prof looked at Ace with a sort of resigned weariness. "And how are we going to do that, Kyle?"
The surprise on Ace's face would have been comical if the situation hadn't been so serious. They used their nicknames so often that hearing their Christian names out of each other's mouths was a definite shock and it told Ace exactly how Prof felt. In all the years he'd known Prof he could have counted the times Prof had called him 'Kyle' on the fingers of one hand. "Hey, Prof…"
"No. I've come to terms with this. I've had to." Prof sipped his apple juice before continuing to speak. "There's the high possibility that the Dora Lockridge I know and love has been dead ever since Kra put that crystal in her brain and he's been using her as a living puppet. How do we know that Kra wasn't able to access her memories and her personality and mimic her behavior?"
"Hey…" Rocky was frowning. "Y'know, guys…he's got a point there….maybe Kra's whole plan was to get here inside Challenger Mountain and set a bomb or rig our own generators to blow and take us all out at one shot."
Prof was nodding. "My thoughts exactly, Rocky. That's why I've decided that when we catch up to Dora, it will be my hand that ends her life. Mine and nobody else's."
"I refuse to let you talk that way, Prof." Ace stood up. "You're too emotionally twisted by this whole thing to make a responsible judgment call so I'm going to make it for you. We're going to capture Dora and we're going to find out if Kra has indeed destroyed her mind and her personality. And once we've determined that beyond a doubt to MY satisfaction will we then and ONLY then consider other options. That's MY decision and if you can't abide by it then say so now."
Prof finished his juice and crushed the carton into a tight ball. "You think I want to consider killing Dora, Ace? You really think I want to do that? But I can't let myself hope…I can't let myself…."
Ace's cell phone clipped to his belt bleeped for attention and he unclipped it. "I've been waiting for this call." He opened the phone and pressed the send button, turning it on. Something emerged from the microphone, a tiny speck that was rapidly growing, rings of energy spinning around the speck as it grew into the figure of man six inches high, dressed in a bright red and blue costume that covered him from head to toe and left only his mouth and chin open.
The Atom gave The Challengers Of The Unknown a jaunty wave and said; "You need an expert in miniaturization, I hear?"
Dora Lockridge awoke bathed in the bright lights of a series of huge halogen bulbs that were shining down on her as she lay on a flat metal surface. She was dressed in a simple white dress that reached down to her knees. The room she was in was a sterile and as antiseptic as that of a hospital but there was no hospital smell and indeed, she smelled no odors at all and that was odd because even in a hospital, she should smell something…
Dora looked upwards at the rows and rows of empty seats that seemed to stretch back into infinity. Her eyes opened wider in horror as bodies appeared out of nowhere, thickening into reality, becoming sharper in focus and clarity as they became more and more corporeal. And those bodies were all her. Dozens and dozens of Dora Lockridges, all looking down at her with blank white orbs and faces as remote as the surface of the moon.
"Where am I?" Dora shouted. "Kra! Where am I, damn you?"
>Still inside the petty ball of disgusting organic matter you laughingly refer to as a brain, little one<
"What are you doing to me? Where are we?"
>For once I am doing nothing. You're actually very surprising for a human, do you know that? You have actually managed to create this psychological construct out of your desire for something to have a frame of reference. I'm impressed<
Dora was looking around for the monstrous robot. She couldn't believe that this was all in her head and was convinced that this had to be a new trick of Kra's. Somehow he was manipulating her, trying once again to break her spirit, break her mind.
"And why would I conjure up a hospital room, you mechanical freak?"
Kra's sardonic, grating voice seemed to come from everywhere as Dora turned around and around, trying to see where the mad robot was hiding. >Perhaps because you've recently spent so much time in a hospital, room? Even though you were unconscious during the surgery procedure, your subconscious remembers everything. If I had the time, I would study you in greater detail. There is much more to you than I previously suspected<
"I want nothing from you but for you to get out of my HEAD! I'll never help you hurt Prof or his friends!"
>But you're already helping me. We've left the hospital and we're on our way to a secure location where I can once again inhabit a superior body and leave this disgusting bag of meat. Once I have done that, I can once again resume my mission to carry out the overwhelming goal of my programming: To destroy all human life on this planet<
"And what happens to me, then? Will you let me go?"
>I am very much afraid that the surgical procedure I will use to remove the control crystal from your brain will not be as advanced or as delicate as the one used to place it there in the first place, little one. In fact, when it is done, I suspect that there will be very little left of you for your precious Professor Haley to mourn…<
"…so once you find Miss Lockridge, it'll be simple matter for me to shrink down to sub-atomic size and enter her brain. Thanks to these cat scans, I shouldn't have any problem finding this crystal." The Atom was standing on one of Dora's cat scans, scratching his chin as he studied it with scientific intensity.
"An' then what?" Rocky wondered. "You can't just yank it outta there, right? How are you gonna get it outta her head?"
In response, The Atom leaped into air and landed next to Rocky's right hand, which was resting on the table. The Atom placed his own tiny hand on Rocky's. Suddenly, spinning rings of energy surrounded Rocky and there was a whoosh! of displaced air as he was suddenly shrunk down to six inches.
Rocky stood next to a widely grinning Atom. "I can make other objects and persons besides myself grow and shrink, Rocky. Once I reach the control crystal, I'll simply shrink it down to a manageable size and bring it out with me. The crystal will be removed with no danger to Miss Lockridge whatsoever."
Red brought his face down closer to the six inch high Rocky and grinned maliciously. "Saaaaay…this ain't bad at all….we oughta keep the Rockhead like this….save us having to listen to his griping all the time."
"You wanna watch it, Ryan…once I get back to my normal size-" Rocky broke off and whipped around to face the still grinning Atom. "Hey…you CAN make me normal sized, right?"
In answer, The Atom reached out to touch Rocky's arm and there was the same spinning rings of energy and a whoosh! and just like that, Rocky was back to normal size.
"How did it feel?" Prof asked, ever the scientist, always asking questions and probing.
Rocky shrugged. "Not much different from the way I feel now. You guys did look a lot sharper though, now that I think of it. And you seemed to move slower."
"It takes a while for your senses to process the way information is being relayed to your brain in a state of miniaturization," The Atom said. "If I had left you at the six inch size for another eleven or twelve minutes, you'd have compensated." That wasn't quite true since the white dwarf matter that was the source of The Atom's powers and abilities had many properties that he still didn't understand but he saw no need to tell The Challengers that. It wasn't as if they were The Justice League, after all.
"So we're clear on the plan then?" Ace said by way of steering the conversation back to the subject of the meeting. "We find Dora and subdue her. I call The Atom and he comes to where we are via cell phone and performs the emergency surgery on Dora. And hopefully once it's removed, her true personality will assert itself."
"But what if it doesn't?" Red wanted to know. "What if we remove the crystal and find out that Dora's gone? Or even worse, she's in the crystal and we have to put it back?"
"Let's deal with one thing at a time," Ace insisted. "We've got to find her first." That friendly, engaging grin spread across his wide, handsome face. "And I think I know just how we can do that."
The sleek, triangular winged jet Challenger 1 converted to VTOL mode and dropped with an even, steady pace downward onto the circular landing pad. Another perfect landing performed by Ace Morgan. There were those who claimed that Ace was perhaps the best pilot in the world. Maybe he was and maybe he wasn't but if he wasn't, he was damn near close.
The hatch hissed open and a blistering hot gush of hot air made sweat pop out on the faces of the four fear- fighters. Characteristically, it was Rocky who had a comment. "Boil me for a Baptist! If somebody told me ta go to Hell, I'd have to tell 'em, 'too late, son, I'm there'!"
"Death Valley Federal Penitentiary was built here exactly for the climatical reasons, Rocky," Prof said as they walked over to a simple dark green dome some two hundred feet from the landing pad. "It's normal for the temperature to rise to 130 degrees in the shade and as you can see, there is no shade. There are dust storms and sandstorms blowing through here almost constantly and there's only two inches of rainfall in a year and that's considered to be a lot."
"So the idea is that even if the guys kept here get away, they'd be killing themselves, right?"
"Right. The prisoners who are sent here are men and women whose ability to survive in conditions such as this are non-existent so if they do get loose, they'd be dead long before they got anywhere and it's more than a hundred miles to the nearest town. Think you could make it, Red?"
The plucky Red grinned at the taller man. "Wanna dare me?"
"No, he doesn't!" Ace said sharply. The Challengers knew better than anybody to not dare Red to do anything. He was as reckless as a schoolboy when it came to dares and if somebody had done it, Red would have started walking across Death Valley right that very moment.
Rocky changed the subject as they came to the dome. Even though they had left their leather jackets in the jet, they were all soaking with sweat. "How'd you know about this place, Ace? I don't think I've ever heard of the government having a prison here in Death Valley."
"And you won't, either. This is a secret government penitentiary and if word about it got out, you'd have all kinds of special interest groups howling about cruel and inhuman treatment. But the 257 men and women they've got here are very dangerous and desperate characters who really shouldn't be put in a regular prison. I heard about this place when I was in the Air Force and after we had that trouble out on Challenger Island, I called in a few markers and had Drabny sent here."
The chunky door of the dome swung inwards with a pressurized hiss and The Challengers stepped gratefully into the air-conditioned interior. Inside the large dome it looked like an administrative office, with men and women in business attire sitting at desks and working at computer stations. But there was a definite military presence, thanks to the number of armed MPs, including the two who accompanied the uniformed Army officer who saluted. "Welcome to Death Valley Federal Penitentiary, Colonel Morgan."
Ace smartly returned the salute. "Thank you, Major Booth. We appreciate you accommodating our request on such short notice."
Major Booth smiled as he replied, "When The Challengers Of The Unknown ask for a favor you don't say 'no', sir. I was happy to be able to help. The prisoners are kept underground in special cells. I'll take you to Mr. Drabny's cell."
"Major Booth. Once you've done that, I'd appreciate it if you could let us have a few minutes alone with the prisoner." Ace lowered his voice. "I'll be honest with you: we may have to coerce Drabny into telling us what we want to know and I wouldn't want to compromise you in any way."
Major Booth nodded knowingly. "Tell you what: I've got to make a phone call to Washington. Should take me exactly five minutes. Means I'll have to come back up here to make it, though. But I don't see any harm in leaving the prisoner alone with you. If you can't trust The Challengers Of The Unknown, who can you trust?"
Corinna Stark opened the door of the VIP hospital suite and smiled at June Robbins and Tino Mannery, who were sitting by the immense picture window. They had the sliding glass open and they were enjoying the refreshing breeze blowing through the room while they played Scrabble.
Tino had insisted on nothing but the best for himself and June and the VIP suite was one of a dozen the hospital had for celebrities, dignitaries and other high-profile clients who required strict privacy and security. The suite had fourteen rooms, including a sauna, a gym, an office with several computers, two dining rooms, a round-the-clock staff of forty, including a concierge.
June looked envious of Corinna's bright yellow skirt suit with it's embroidered wing collar. She'd been wearing hospital gowns for the past couple of days and she was positive she looked like an old hag and seeing how gorgeous Corinna looked she felt even more like one. "I hate you," she said with a smile as Corinna placed a stack of newspapers on the round glass table. "How dare you come visiting looking like a million bucks worth of new money when I'm a wreck?"
"I've made arraignments with the staff at Scarpino's. They'll be coming this afternoon to give you a complete makeover. By this evening you'll be back to looking your usual glamorous self." Corinna replied. "How are you both feeling today?"
"Ready to get outta this squirrel cage," Tino said, yawning and stretching. "We've behaved ourselves, Corinna. When can we go?"
"I just came from talking with your doctors and they don't see why you can't leave in another 24 to 48 hours. They're impressed with the excellent shape you're both in and they say you're fine."
"So why can't we leave now?" June demanded, selected a Washington Post from the stack. "I want to help out the boys and I also do have a job I have to get back to."
"You know how doctors are," Corinna said. "They just want to double-check the results of a few of their tests and observe you both a little longer."
"And speaking of the guys," Tino said. "What's going on with them?"
"I spoke to Rocky about two hours ago. They said they were going to a prison to speak with Drabny."
June looked up from her reading, frowning slightly. "Drabny? Why? What's he got to do with this?"
Corinna shrugged. "I gathered that Ace thinks that Drabny could somehow lead them to Kra."
June nodded. "Could be. Drabny was a member of the League Of Challenger Haters and it's possible that he knows where some of Kra's secret labs are located."
Tino asked, "What makes you think Kra even has secret labs?"
June sighed. "Kid, you're in this business long enough and you come to realize that all of 'em have secret labs."
All of the cells were plain gray rooms constructed in such a way that there were no seams, joints or cracks in the walls. The sink, toilet and bed were extrusions from the wall and could not be removed in any way. There was no door, just a ten inch thick plexiglass slab that slid downwards into the floor when Major Booth swiped his keycard through the computerized lock next to the door. The Challengers stepped into the cell and the plexiglass slab slid back upwards, sealing them in with the slight, balding man who was sitting on his bed, reading a book. More stacks of books were in the corners. A television screen was built into the wall. Prisoners in Death Valley could watch only five hours of television in a 24 hour period but they could break up the time anyway they wished or watch it whenever they liked.
Drabny looked up at the four men in his cell with a sardonic smile as he carefully placed a book mark in the place where he had been reading and he smiled. Drabny looked anything like the scientific genius he was. In the past he had fought The Challengers armed with his own considerable brilliance as well as three alchemical weapons. He had come dangerously close to killing The Challengers on more than one occasion.
"So what information do you need from me, gentlemen?" Drabny asked mildly.
"And what makes you think we need anything from you, Drabny?" Red replied, leaning against a wall, arms folded.
"You Challengers aren't in the habit of personally checking up on your old foes. Locking them away and forgetting they exist is more your style. You wouldn't come all this way to release me so you must want information. Probably about Pramble, since he was the only one besides me who survived that debacle on Challenger Island."
"Wrong," Ace stepped forward, fists on his narrow hips. "It's Kra we want to know about."
"Kra?" Confusion clouded Drabny's face. "Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't you destroy Kra back on the island?"
"We thought so but it appears as if he managed to transfer his consciousness into a human body. We need to find that body and you're going to tell us where Kra is."
The confusion on Drabny's face fled as he nodded thoughtfully. "You know, I remember thinking to myself back on the island that it seemed as if you had destroyed Kra far too easily. However, that maniac Pramble started strangling me and quite naturally my thoughts were turned elsewhere." Drabny looked over at where the silent Prof stood, his large brown eyes glaring at Drabny with murderous hatred. "Professor Haley. Not going to go for my throat? Not going to lay me out with a haymaker right?"
"Don't push me, Drabny," Prof advised in a low, dangerous voice. "Not now."
"The body Kra is in belongs to Prof's fiancé, Drabny," Ace said. "Trust me on this: you want to tell us anything you know and tell us in a hurry."
Drabny shrugged and leaned back on his elbows, crossing his legs at the ankle. "And why should I? What do I get out of it?"
"You get to stay alive," Prof said flatly.
"I'd listen ta him if I were you, Drabny," Rocky advised. "It's been a long time since I seen Prof in this kinda mood and it wasn't pretty what he did to that customer."
"Oh, please. Spare me the good cop/bad cop routine. You're the good guys. You're not going to do anything to me."
"Have it your way, then." Ace stepped forward and looked down at Drabny and the smile on his square, handsome face was not a pleasant one. "In just about one minute, Major Booth is going to come back and open up your cell. Then Rocky, Red and I are going to leave but Prof is going to stay in here with you and we're not going to come back until Prof asks us to."
Drabny frowned. He threw a quick look at Prof and what he saw in Prof's face worried him on some level because he looked back to Ace and said, "You can't do that. I have rights."
"And so does that innocent woman Kra is using as a puppet," Red said. "So does Prof. Now, when we stack their rights up against your rights, Drabny….well, I think I can safely speak for all of us when I say we just don't give all that much of a damn right about now for your rights."
"Hurry up and make up your mind, Drabny," Ace insisted. "You've got 30 seconds."
Drabny licked lips that had suddenly gone cold and dry as Prof slowly advanced on him….
"Thank you again for all your help, Major Booth." Ace shook hands with the officer as the chunky door of the administrative dome was opened and The Challengers ran out into the blistering heat toward Challenger 1.
"Didja get a load of the look on Drabny's face when Prof wrapped his hands around his neck and started ta squeeze?" Rocky chuckled. "Good job a'acting, Prof."
"Who says I was acting?" Prof replied. "At this point, there's nothing I wouldn't do or sacrifice to save Dora."
"Hopefully it won't come to that, " Ace said grimly as they loped up the steps into the jet. "We've moved pretty fast. Maybe we can take Kra by surprise before he has a chance to find that secret lab and start cutting into Dora. Buckle in! I'm going to take this baby sub-orbital!"
Exactly 1 minute and 18 seconds later, Challenger 1 was in flight, heading toward Mexico and Kra.
Prof sat behind Ace, acting as navigator, his body performing the necessary tasks while his mind raced ahead, thinking about the battle to come and wondering if Dora would still be alive and whole at the end of it. No matter what it takes, Dora…no matter what I have to do or what I have to sacrifice…I WILL see you free of that monster….even if it costs me my OWN life….
NEXT ISSUE: All good things must come to an end. And #12 will be the proof of that time honored saying. Be here for a tale of triumph and tragedy as we proudly present the LAST issue of DC Legends Challengers Of The Unknown: The Silver Age.